The NHS has apologised after the digital Covid pass was inaccessible for more than six hours and left some travellers struggling to board flights. The pass provides a digital record of a person’s vaccination status. It is needed to board flights to certain countries, and some passengers were left struggling to check-in. “The Covid-19 Pass is now working as normal and we will continue to monitor overnight,” NHS Digital tweeted. “Thank you for your patience and apologies for any inconvenience caused.”
Users trying to access it via the NHS app and website on Thursday evening were shown a message saying it was unavailable. Numerous holidaymakers had described being unable to check in at airports because they could not prove their vaccination status – and others grew worried in case the problems continued.
Jon May, 32, was due to fly from Bristol to Valencia on Friday morning for a work conference, and earlier expressed concern after finding that the app was down. “I’ve had all three jabs, and I went to the NHS App, and it said ‘Service unavailable. I was like ‘What do you mean, service unavailable?’,” he said. “If it doesn’t work, I’m hoping they just go with it. I might get to Spain and be deported from Spain, and that would be really embarrassing.”
Fi Bartlett, 24, from Bournemouth, is travelling to Malaga on Saturday but was earlier unable to complete the online check-in for her flight without proof of vaccination. “There’s been no update from the NHS apart from to say they know it’s down,” she said. Late on Thursday afternoon, NHS Digital tweeted to say it was “aware of issues with availability of the NHS Covid Pass” and was investigating “urgently”. The requirement to show a pass to enter certain venues and events in the UK was scrapped earlier this year. However, some countries still require travellers to show they have been vaccinated before allowing them to enter.
