NICOLA Sturgeon has advised Scots not to start booking summer holidays abroad next year despite the rollout of coronavirus vaccinations.
The First Minister said the near future is still "quite uncertain".
It came as an expert report found Scotland came close to eliminating coronavirus during lockdown but new strains were introduced when the country opened up and people began travelling again.
The report by members of the COG-UK Consortium said the majority of strains associated with the second wave "are new introductions from outside of Scotland and many from outside of the UK".
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During the Scottish Government's coronavirus briefing, Ms Sturgeon was asked if Scots should feel confident booking a summer holiday next year.
She said: "No, I wouldn't be right now booking a holiday for next [summer].
"Not because I don't hope that we are in a much better place next summer.
"But right now I think we've all just got to focus on getting through this.
"I very much hope that the prospect of being able to travel by next summer will be there for all of us.
"But it would be, I think, a bit foolish of me to stand here right now and advise people what to be doing next summer, when we're still trying to navigate our way through this pandemic."
She added: "Even if we had managed here in Scotland, which we hope we will, to get a degree of normality back by next summer, we don't know that that will be the case in all other parts of the world.
"So it may still be the case we would advise against travel, for the same reasons that we wouldn't want people to bring it back into Scotland.
"The future feels a bit brighter than it has done in a long time.
"But the near future is still quite uncertain, and therefore I wouldn't be giving people advice to book holidays for next summer quite at this point."
Asked if she plans to book a holiday next year, Ms Sturgeon said she has not "given any thought" to her holiday plans.
Jason Leitch, Scotland's National Clinical Director, said: "My advice in recent weeks has been and remains don't book a non-refundable holiday for next summer.
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"I wouldn't commit, I won't be committing, I'll be telling my family not to commit to a summer holiday.
"But, I think the world will look a lot different next summer."
He said he thought this week's vaccination rollout is "genuinely the beginning of a new normal", but added: "I'm just not entirely sure of the timing.
"This is not a Scottish problem, it is a global problem. So where would you travel?
"There's going to be all kinds of challenges about what other countries have done with vaccinations, with immunity.
"So it's all very, very complicated. So I would hold back for now, and if you're going to book something I would make sure it's refundable."
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