More chaos for holidaymakers after NHS Covid vaccine pass app crashed for four hours
More chaos for holidaymakers after NHS Covid vaccine pass app crashed for four hours – leaving Brits ‘stranded abroad and unable to fly’
NHS app is not displaying Covid passes because of ‘high traffic volumes’App went down earlier this morning and the NHS said it is ‘investigating’Britons travelling abroad today claim they have been forced to miss their flights***Were YOU affected by the NHS app crashing? EMAIL: tips@mailonline.co.uk or joe.davies@mailonline.co.uk, or RING: 02036150537***
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The NHS app did not allow anyone to view their Covid vaccine passes for more than four hours today, leaving holidaymakers unable to board flights.
In yet more travel chaos, the controversial software — which allows people to prove their vaccination status — was not displaying QR code passes because of ‘high traffic volumes’.
Users of the app started suffering issues before 12pm, and the health service said was ‘investigating the issue’. The app started working again shortly after 4.10pm.
Meanwhile, desperate people travelling abroad claim they have been forced to miss their flights.
One person claimed he was ‘stuck’ in Greece because he wasn’t allowed to board a journey back to England from Greece without the QR code. Another Brit currently in Naples said he wasn’t even able to ‘go for a p*** because the app is broken’.
Others have been left fretting about their upcoming holiday plans, with them unable to fill out passenger locator forms for flights today and tomorrow.
The app problems are the latest in a string of issues faced by travellers this summer, with queues of up to four hours building up at Heathrow’s arrivals last week because of e-gates crashing at the airport.
Ministers rolled out the UK’s new simplified travel system out on Monday last week, replacing the traffic light rules with a single go/no go system.
Fully-vaccinated travellers returning from a country that isn’t on the red list do not have to take a pre-departure test and are exempt from quarantine but they do have to take a day two test.
The NHS app is not allowing people to view their Covid vaccine passes as holidaymakers are left unable to board flights
Users trying to log on to the NHS app to download their vaccine pass today were met with a message telling them to ‘try again later’.
It says: ‘The NHS Covid-19 Status service is experiencing very high traffic volumes.
‘We are currently limit access to the service to prevent it from becoming overloaded.
‘Please try again later.’
Health bosses have not yet reported what caused the app to be unable to process traffic levels, or given an indication of when the issue will be resolved.
NHS Digital said: ‘There are currently issues with accessing the Covid Pass on the NHS App and website.
‘We are investigating the issue and will update as soon as we can.’
Britons took to social media to report the problem, with hundreds saying they were worried about being able to travel.
Chuck Adolphy, who was planning to fly to Slovenia today, wrote: ‘Cheers guys missed my flight with it.’
And Caroline Frost, a journalist, said: ‘Waiting to fly at Heathrow and the NHS app has crashed with all the a Covid vaccination proof available.
‘Currently not allowed to fly. Going to be an interesting afternoon at Heathrow.’
Others stuck abroad say they were also experiencing issues because of the glitch.
Henry Martin wrote: ‘This has been an absolute nightmare.
‘We’re stuck here in Greece as they wouldn’t let us on plane without a pass — are you going to reimburse us for the missed flights and hotel?
‘Of course there was no one we could contact about this also.’
Callum Mellia said: ‘Cheers guys, can’t do anything in Naples right now such as tours, museums, go for a p**s because the app is broken.’
Passengers queue for the Arrival Hall at London Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 5 last week, due to a problem with the self-service passport gates
Passengers posted images of massive queues on Twitter on Wednesday last week, with one traveller estimated than more than a thousand people waited at immigration while another reported an expected waiting time of anywhere between two and four hours
Guy Holloway, who is moving to Barcelona tomorrow, said: ‘The NHS App won’t give me my Covid pass and I can’t therefore upload proof of vaccination to booking form.
‘Keeps saying “unexpected error” both in app and online. What can I do? Am travelling on Friday!’
And Simon Hutton wrote: ‘Am I the only one having issues getting a Covid pass on the NHS app or website?
‘Try to get one and it just says there are four ways to get a pass but no option to actually generate one.’
Worried travellers have been reassured they can bring ‘proof of vaccination status’ to their flight even without the app.
British Airways said: ‘Please contact the NHS to see if they can remedy the issue with their app. If not be reassured you can bring proof of vaccination status when you check in.’
Travellers can download their pass or ask for a physical copy from their GP before travel to prove their vaccination status.
But it is not clear how travellers already at airports can continue with their plans until the app returns.
Users can still access their Covid vaccine records through a sub-section of the app, proving they’ve had two jabs. But there is no guarantee airlines or other countries will accept it as proof.
Critics have campaigned against the digital passes since before they were first introduced, arguing vaccine history should be kept private.
It comes after Heathrow’s e-gates crashed again last week leaving travellers stuck on planes for hours and waiting in long queues at arrivals.
One traveller estimated that more than a thousand people were waiting at immigration while another reported an expected waiting time of anywhere between two and four hours.
A Heathrow spokesman told MailOnline that the e-gates broke down due to a ‘national systems-wide issue’ but that they are all back up and running. The airport even appeared to be blaming Border Force, which manages e-gates at ports across the country, for the chaos.
Self-service passport gates at several major UK airports including Heathrow, Manchester, Stansted and Edinburgh all failed just over a fortnight ago, causing delays of several hours at arrivals. At the time, officials said the outage was caused by a ‘systems failure’.
A Home Office spokesman refused to explain why the e-gates keep crashing when approached by MailOnline for further information, saying it does not comment on ‘operational matters’.
They said in a statement: ‘This morning a technical issue affected e-gates at a number of ports. The issue was quickly identified and has now been resolved.
‘We have been working hard to minimise disruption and continue to monitor the situation closely. We apologise to all passengers for the inconvenience caused.’
Tory MPs have demanded answers from the head of Border Force over the Heathrow queuing scandal seen in recent months but Paul Lincoln, the agency’s director general, has not commented publicly on the issue in recent weeks.
Travel industry experts have repeatedly warned the chaotic scenes seen in the wake of the country reopening are blighting the UK’s global reputation, while running the risk of a spike in Covid cases – further jeopardising the already crisis-hit tourism sector.
