Covid Scotland: Humza Yousaf says Scottish Government ‘confident’ in August 9 Freedom Day for return to normality
Scotland’s Health Secretary says the government is ‘confident’ the country will be able to remove restrictions on August 9, adding vaccination rates among over-40s are an ‘astounding achievement’.
Humza Yousaf told BBC’s Good Morning Scotland that he is ‘confident’ Scotland will be able to keep its ‘freedom day’ of August 9 based on recent vaccination figures and coronavirus data in Scotland.
Speaking on GMS, Mr Yousaf said: “I would be confident at this stage that we are able to move towards the target date of August 9.
“The First Minister is going to update Parliament on August 3 and I wouldn’t want to pre-empt it but we are still confident of being able to move forward.”
Most Popular
-
1
Police in West Lothian investigating following 'unexplained' death of newborn baby in Blackburn
-
2
Edinburgh crime: Two men appear in court charged with murder of former Fettes College teacher Peter Coshan
-
3
Heart of Midlothian: Why do people spit on the iconic spot in Edinburgh? What does it have to do with the Old Tolbooth?
-
4
Edinburgh bin strike: New five per cent offer to council staff
-
5
Edinburgh crime news: Emmanuel Anoliefo has been jailed after a series of rapes and sexual assaults across the Capital
His comment comes after the Scottish Government set Monday July 26 as the day when all over 40s will be fully vaccinated in Scotland.
So far, 91% of over 40s have been fully vaccinated across Scotland with 76% of people in the 40-49 category fully vaccinated.
Mr Yousaf noted that it was important to remember that the vaccination process is non-mandatory and therefore these figures are ‘an astounding achievement.’
Asked whether the obligation to self-isolate will go on August 9, Mr Yousaf said: “That is the current plan and we are working towards that.
“I wouldn’t want to pre-empt anything the First Minister says in her statement on August 3 but at the moment there is a very narrow exemption for close contacts who are double vaccinated.
“What we’d like to do is broaden that.
"Our case numbers in Scotland are decreasing – still too high but going in absolutely the right direction.”