sturgeon confirms that work will resume on plans for a second independence referendum, which had been suspended during the covid crisis. prime minister boris johnson announces a new health and social care tax to help address shortfalls in care and the patient backlog; the scottish nhs will get £1.1bn from the tax each year. 8 september – scottish first minister nicola sturgeon says the rate of covid infections in scotland may be slowing down, and that hopefully no new restrictions will be needed to control the surge. 9 september – the scottish parliament votes to approve vaccine passports, meaning adults must be fully vaccinated to enter nightclubs and major events from 1 october. scottish comedian janey godley is dropped from a scottish government health campaign urging people to wear face coverings and take lateral flow tests after historic tweets were published in which she made derogatory comments about a number of black performers. dr lynn mccallum, chief executive of nhs borders, urges people to "be kind" to staff as the health trust faces "unprecedented challenges" at a time when they are busier than the "busiest winter". her comments come after health staff faced abuse both in person and through social media from people frustrated by treatment delays. 10 september – pauline howie, chief executive of the scottish ambulance service apologises for the long waiting times faced by those who call an ambulance and says the service is facing "unprecedented pressure" because of covid. figures estimate that one in 45 people has covid in scotland, the highest number since records began. first minister nicola sturgeon says her plans to hold a second independence referendum in two years are realistic despite the difficulties of covid. 11 september – jamie mcnamee of the unite union which represents ambulance staff calls for the army to set up temporary wards outside accident and emergency departments to help deal with pressure at hospitals. 12 september – health figures indicate there are 1,019 people in hospital with covid-related conditions, the ninth consecutive day the figure has risen. first minister nicola sturgeon says that an independence referendum will not be held until all restrictions on daily life in scotland have been lifted. neil doncaster, chief executive of the scottish professional football league, raises concerns about a covid passport scheme, saying it would be "very difficult" to check that all fans attending a football match had got a vaccine passport. 13 september – health secretary humza yousaf suggests that scotland's covid passport scheme may employ spot checks at large-scale events such as football matches. 15 september – it is revealed that two thirds of the 6,780 travellers referred to police scotland by public health scotland for potential breach of quarantine regulations were not investigated after the force decided to "weed out" cases. health secretary humza yousaf is warned he could put lives in danger after urging people to "think twice" before calling an ambulance and only to do so if "absolutely critical". 16 september – the scottish government asks the ministry of defence for military assistance for scotland's ambulance service after first minister nicola sturgeon describes the situation as being the most challenging set of circumstances in history because of covid. national clinical director professor jason leitch confirms there is no evidence that recent large scale events have led to a spike in covid cases. 17 september – pauline howie, chief executive of the scottish ambulance service, confirms that military personnel are to be drafted in to drive ambulances. the latest office for national statistics figures for the week ending 11 september indicate scotland to still have the highest covid rate in the uk, with an estimated one in 45 people with the virus, the second week this has been the case. 18 september – following changes to the traffic lights system in england, scotland announces that the green and amber lists will merge, but unlike england there will be no changes to the rules regarding covid tests for returning travellers. 19 september – dr sandesh gulhane, a gp and conservative member of the scottish parliament, warns that demand for gps is double pre-pandemic levels and the situation is likely to worsen. 20 september – tourism industry leaders are warning that strict covid testing rules for international travellers could place the next tourist season at "serious risk". senior doctors have said that 1,000 extra acute treatment beds are needed in scotland's nhs to help relieve the "unrelenting pressure" facing emergency departments. 21 september – first minister nicola sturgeon outlines details of when and where vaccine passports should be used, and urges venues to use "common sense" when checking them. the ministry of defence confirms the deployment of 114 military personnel to help the scottish ambulance service with non-essential driving and support work. 22 september – the night time industries association scotland (ntia), a group representing night clubs in scotland, confirms plans for a legal challenge against the scottish government's decision to introduce vaccine passports from october, saying there are "serious flaws" with the scheme. 24 september – scotland records 50 covid-related deaths, the largest daily total since 27 february, bringing the number of overall deaths to 8,514. the scottish government confirms fully vaccinated travellers returning to scotland will no longer be required to take a pre-flight covid test. scotland will also align itself with the rest of the uk with regard to post-return testing. military personnel arrive in scotland ready to begin driving ambulances over the coming weekend. 26 september – secretary of state for scotland alistair jack confirms that military personnel will be available to drive ambulances beyond the initially agreed two-month period. 28 september – with vaccine passports set to be introduced on 1 october, first minister nicola sturgeon announces there will be a "grace period" before their enforcement on 18 october. jillian evans, head of health intelligence at nhs grampian, tells the bbc scotland is "nudging towards" herd immunity in spite of continuing high levels of covid. figures released by police scotland show a 20% increase in bicycle thefts during lockdown as demand for bicycles increased. 29 september – ukhospitality, the trade body representing the hospitality industry, warns the public is not ready for scotland's covid passport scheme. dr lee allan, a consultant at aberdeen royal infirmary, tells the bbc the majority of intensive care patients with covid are young and unvaccinated. nhs western isles urge people living in the western isles to follow covid prevention measures after a spike in cases; 23 were reported the previous day. 30 september – legal challenge against scotland's vaccine passport scheme is rejected, meaning it will begin the following day. the nhs scotland covid status app is subsequently launched at 5.30pm but runs into technical difficulties within hours of going live. october 2021 1 october – data obtained by the bbc indicates that more than half of elderly patients discharged from hospital to 200 care homes were not tested for covid beforehand. it is reported that a lack of care staff is fuelling the crisis in scotland's health service because it means patients cannot be discharged from hospital if they need ongoing care. scotland's health secretary humza yousaf says he "regrets any inconvenience caused" by the vaccine passport app and suggests it could be fixed "in a matter of hours, but it may be a matter of days". nhs greater glasgow and clyde and nhs lanarkshire announce they will no longer be scheduling drop in vaccination clinics. however, following criticism over the decision, drop in clinics are reinstated by both health authorities the following day. 2 october – the scottish government says the "teething problems" with its vaccine passport app should be resolved within a couple of days. 4 october – deputy first minister john swinney says the country's vaccine passport app is up and running and functioning well. 5 october – the scottish government unveils a £300m financial package for the health service, designed to get it through the upcoming and "extremely challenging" winter. first minister nicola sturgeon apologises for the problems experienced during the launch of scotland's vaccine passport app. a public health scotland report into the february 2020 outbreak of covid at a nike conference in edinburgh finds it did not lead to community transmission of the virus. 9 october – public health scotland confirms that 551 covid cases have been linked to september's trnsmt festival held in glasgow, and attended by around 50,000 people. 12 october – the latest figures for accident and emergency waiting times show that 7,212 of the 25,123 people attending a&e departments in the week ending 3 october were not admitted, discharged or transferred four hours after arriving, setting another new record. 13 october – figures published by national records of scotland show 1,353 deaths from all causes were registered in the week to 10 october, a figure 30% higher than the pre-covid average. 15 october – military personnel are to be drafted in to help at hospitals in lanarkshire and the borders region ahead of the winter to help relieve expected pressure on the health service in these areas. 18 october – scotland's vaccine passport scheme becomes enforceable by law. nhs grampian becomes the latest health board to request military help. 19 october – the scottish government decides against lifting the requirement for face coverings to be worn in secondary schools, saying it will allow more time for 12–15-year-olds to be vaccinated. opposition msps have accused the scottish government of pushing back the booster vaccine programme for some groups of people as the nhs website says booster vaccines can be booked from mid-november; a statement on 14 september rom the scottish government had said they would be available from october. 20 october – nhs forth valley apologises after figures show just 41% of its accident and emergency patients were seen within four hours in the first full week of october. 22 october – nhs lanarkshire moves to the "highest risk level" as its three hospitals reach maximum capacity. figures from public health scotland show that 117,627 12–15-year-olds in scotland have had their first vaccine so far, equivalent to 50.2%. 23 october – nhs greater glasgow urges patients only to attend a&e if an issue is "life-threatening". 24 october – health secretary, humza yousaf says there is "absolutely a risk" of covid cases rising after the cop26 summit in glasgow, which will be attended by 25,000 people. 25 october – the scottish hospitality group, the industry body that represents the night-time sector in scotland, describes the first weekend of covid passports as an "unmitigated disaster" during which 550 people were turned away from venues and staff received abuse from revellers for turning them away. figures show that around 100,000 people in the top priority groups for vaccination are still waiting for their booster vaccine more than six months after their second jab, with 511,807 of the 616,000 people in the group having received the booster. 26 october – bbc news reports on a major study into long covid in scotland which will attempt to forecast who may need treatment. the study will involve sending a text message to everyone who tested positive for the illness, and some who tested negative, asking them to log any symptoms. figures from public health scotland show that dental treatments fell by 3.5 million during 2020 when compared to the previous year, equivalent to a 75% fall. 27 october – as it is estimated that as many as 100,000 climate protesters could be present at the forthcoming cop26 conference in glasgow, edinburgh university's professor linda bauld cites them as the biggest cause for concern of there being a covid outbreak because of the conference. 30 october – ahead of the cop26 conference in glasgow, first minister nicola sturgeon urges protesters to respect glasgow and the health service by following covid regulations. november 2021 2 november – health secretary humza yousaf confirms 120 military personnel are to be drafted in to help with covid vaccine and flu jab deployment in scotland. 3 november – a special crown office department established to investigate covid-related deaths in hospitals in scotland is investigating 827 cases, it is reported. new scottish government proposals will see non-emergency a&e patients being redirected to other areas of the nhs. 5 november – edinburgh nightclub lulu's confirms it is no longer requiring customers