NICOLA Sturgeon told Andrew Marr she 'wouldn't rule out' bringing forward a referendum by spring next year.
It comes as the outgoing head of the vaccine task force has said that by August this year there will be no vaccine circulating in the UK.
The First Minister has said that she would only hold a constitutional vote once the Covid pandemic has passed.
And Clive Dix, vaccine taskforce chief, told the Telegraph yesterday that the country is on track to vaccinate all adults by the end of July.
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Asked by Marr if Scotland would hold a referendum if the by Spring next year, based on predictions, the pandemic was over, Sturgeon said: "That would certainly work for timescale of within the first half of the parliamentary term, but I very much, not just for reasons of an independence referendum, but for many reasons, I desperately hope those predictions are correct.
"But we have to judge that as we go through this year, we’ve still got many significant challenges ahead."
https://www.thenational.scot/news/19...2-spring-2022/