COVID-19 vaccine passports are set to be required for large events in Scotland from later this year, Nicola Sturgeon has announced.

Cases have been surging in the country in recent days, with 6,400 new COVID cases reported yesterday (September 2) and 17 deaths.

The new scheme, which is set to be introduced later this month, will be signed off by MSPs next week.

The rules mean that fans over the age of 18 will need to show proof of double vaccination to be admitted entry to nightclubs, unseated live music events with more than 500 capacity, unseated outdoor gigs with more than 4,000 capacity, or any event with a capacity of over 10,000.

A number of large music events in Scotland are set to be held over the next month, including Glasgow’s TRNSMT Festival, which was delayed from its original July date and will now take place on Glasgow Green across the weekend of September 10-12.

The Scottish scheme is similar to the plan for vaccine passports in England. The English scheme was first announced in July, but there had been speculation that it would be dropped following backlash from industry leaders, as well as some MPs.

This week, however, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed that the scheme will go ahead as originally planned.

“We set out broadly our intention to require our vaccination for nightclubs and some other settings and we’ll be coming forward in the coming weeks with details for that,” they said.

The news has been met with criticism from the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA), who said in a statement that the announcement is “disappointing as it will cripple the industry.”

NTIA CEO Michael Kill said: “Surely the government can see this is not workable. The challenges are endless, and the sector will be hit extremely hard by this decision, embroiled in discrimination cases, staffing and supply chain shortages, tourism and so on.