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The Scottish Hotel Group said that last week, staff at their locations had to turn away 550 guests without vaccine passports. Those staff members were subjected to severe abuse from tourists, and the locations were forced to close early due to a 40% drop in customers.
"Hotels Scotland warned the Government weeks in advance that their vaccine passport program was not yet ready, but the Government insisted on proceeding, even without a secure support system for their businesses and employees," said Stephen Montgomery, spokesperson for Hotels Scotland.
"The use of vaccine passports will reduce people's interest in our nighttime services."
Montgomery also rejected the argument that the number of people being turned away is an indicator that the program is working effectively in preventing unvaccinated individuals from going to high-risk locations.
According to the program, people attending crowded events or activities will have to prove that they have received both doses of the vaccine. - Photo: Internet
Not only has the plan faced opposition from many service providers, but it has also failed to gain support from the Scottish Conservative Party, who consider it "both impossible and unreasonable" given the government's lack of financial support for businesses and the failure to guarantee the safety of service workers. Murdo Fraser, spokesperson for the Covid-19 Recovery Unit, stated: "The most worrying aspect is the insults that hotel staff have to endure, both from the public and from a cumbersome, unreliable app."
Conversely, the Scottish Government still maintains that implementing the vaccine passport program is a beneficial measure, encouraging more people to get vaccinated against Covid-19, thereby ensuring the continued operation of services throughout the night, and allowing crowded places to function normally as winter – a time when the Covid-19 virus is more likely to spread – approaches.
The vaccine passport program was originally scheduled to be introduced by the Scottish Government on October 1st; however, due to technical issues with the new vaccine certification application, the program was delayed by 17 days and officially came into effect on October 18th.
