Chamber and committees

That is very helpful—thank you.

Yes, I have a question that has come to me from a constituent; Jason Leitch might be best placed to respond to it. The situation is that the constituent was double vaccinated, and he then caught Covid. He has not yet had a booster. Under the vaccination certification scheme, he requires to get a booster. The point that he is making is that, having now had Covid, he would have natural immunity. Is it necessary for him to get a booster? What is the science behind that requirement?

I do not know whether Jason Leitch can help with that point.

I am sorry to pre-empt you, convener. I am content for the motions to be moved en bloc, but I want to make a point on SSI 2021/475. We have been advised that the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee considered that instrument on 11 January and disagreed to it on the grounds that the committee was dissatisfied with the use of the made affirmative procedure.

I think that we should simply note that. As it happens, the measures in the instrument are, of course, now historical and, on the basis of the announcements that were made earlier this week, will be removed next week. Therefore, I do not think that there is any point in us voting against the relevant motion, but we should note the concerns of the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee.

Good morning, cabinet secretary and colleagues. I have two questions and, given that we are short of time, I will ask them both together.

Cabinet secretary, you said a moment ago that the Scottish Government’s view is that Covid has not yet reached endemic status in the Scottish population. Do you have any modelling or projections as to when that will happen?

My second question is on the impact of omicron. As you have said, there has been a very high number of cases, but the number of hospitalisations is now tailing off. If we cast our minds back to where we were in December, the committee was being advised that omicron could result in thousands of additional deaths. Fortunately, the impact has been nothing like that. Given that there are likely to be more variants of Covid, is there a risk that, if that happens, the public will say that experts and advisors have been crying wolf over the impact of omicron and will therefore be resistant to measures being taken to safeguard the population? The experience of omicron has been nothing like as serious as was originally forecast.

Good morning, cabinet secretary and colleagues. I would like to ask about a couple of different issues, if there is time. I will start by raising an issue that I have raised previously, which relates to data. We have been trying to pursue the question of how many people who are admitted to hospital have Covid as the primary cause of their admission as opposed to its being secondary or coincidental. Some limited data that was based on two health boards was published on Friday by Public Health Scotland. When will we have a fuller picture, as that is really important for understanding the true impact of omicron on the health service?

The second issue relates to vaccinations. How many people who are in hospital and, in particular, in intensive care units because of Covid are vaccinated as opposed to unvaccinated?

Thirdly, are we aware of anyone having died as a result of the omicron variant?

I do not know whether the Scottish Government has that information, but it has not been shared with us or the public. I am interested to know whether that data is being collected.

Thank you, convener, and thanks, Professor Leitch, for a very detailed and comprehensive response.

I will make this point briefly. I have been asking these questions for some weeks now and it has been hard to get as clear an explanation as we have just had regarding the numbers. Specifically on the question of the difference in the hospitalisation rates for vaccinated and unvaccinated people, I just ask whether the Scottish Government should be doing more to put out the message to the public. We all want to encourage people to get vaccinated and to get a booster. If the statistics are as clear as Professor Leitch has just stated, it would be really helpful to get that message out so that it is more widely known about among the public.

I have one final question, just for clarity. Along with many others, I am sure, I have businesses contacting me every day looking for clarity. Can you give us any indication of when we might get confirmation from the finance secretary?

Okay—thank you.

Perhaps I will ask you one follow-up question on that, Mr Swinney. I have been approached by a number of accommodation providers and people who run guest houses and bed and breakfasts who do not qualify for support under the heading of hospitality but whose businesses have nevertheless suffered a major impact from cancellations. Concerts, football matches and, indeed, Hogmanay events have all been cancelled, and the people who had been coming here to attend them have been cancelling their trips, too, with the sector in question taking a major hit as a result. Are accommodation providers in the mix as one of the sectors that might be eligible for assistance?

Thank you for that very comprehensive answer, Mr Swinney. I am sure that other committee colleagues will want to pursue some of those issues.

In view of the time that is available, I am keen to ask you a question on another matter: business support. This week, there have been announcements from the Scottish Government on support for the hospitality sector, which I know will be welcomed by businesses that have been hard-hit by cancellations. However, I seek clarity on the other business sectors that you are proposing to help. When will we hear more about what will be available for them?