Union to Ask For Customers' Vaccine Passports Starting October 13th

Starting the 13th of October, the St Andrews Students’ Association will begin to ask to see vaccine passports on club nights. This includes Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and any other club nights individual groups host.

This change will not be mandatory until October 18th, when the government begins enforcing vaccine passport rules.

Starting October 18th, COVID vaccination certificates will be required for over-18s attending indoor events of over 500, unseated outdoor events of over 4,000, and any event with more than 10,000 in attendance. A negative COVID test is not enough to secure entry to a qualifying venue.

The NHS Scotland COVID Status App can be used to generate a QR code as proof of full vaccination, but problems with its launch have caused concern. It is likely that this was caused by massive traffic to the app, with over 70,000 users downloading the app on launch day alone.

A government spokesperson stated, “​​"This huge demand did mean that some people experienced delays and we are sorry that happened.

"We have now increased the capacity of the NHS systems that sit behind the app - where most of the issues causing delays have occurred - in order to deal with demand and, as a result, we are seeing increasing numbers of people now able to access their records."

There is also a paper version available.

There are exemptions available for those who are unable to get vaccinated for medical reasons, or who are participating in a vaccine trial.

In a Facebook post, the St Andrews Students’ Association acknowledged the potential challenges facing students who are exempt or vaccinated outside of Scotland, and promised future updates to resolve any concerns.

They said, “We’re aware that there are issues for some of you who have had vaccines out with Scotland or who may need an exemption certificate from overseas countries - we await further updates on these circumstances and will keep you informed.”