A Fife couple have been forced to put their holiday plans on hold for a year after a Covid-19 vaccine certificate failed to arrive in time.
Carol and Michael Adams were due to set sail from Newcastle this weekend on a cruise around the British Isles – with a stop off the French coast.
But proof of Mr Adams’ vaccination status – which was applied for five weeks ago – has not arrived, scuppering the retirees’ plans.
Passengers are not allowed to board without evidence they have received both doses of a coronavirus vaccine.
Luckily for the couple, tour operator Tui has agreed to honour their holiday and the Freuchie residents will go on their 11-day cruise this time next year instead.
Carol said: “My husband received his second dose of the vaccine in April and we applied for our vaccine status five weeks ago, but Michael’s application was rejected because they claim they don’t have a record his second jab.
“We have been passed from pillar to post by operators and in some cases supervisors, but they still insist it is not on their system ‘end of story’.
“We have the exact date of my husband’s vaccination, where it was, even who the nurse was that gave him and what batch of vaccine it was.
‘We had to accept the holiday wouldn’t happen’
“We have all this printed out from our clinic but it’s no good for travelling, unfortunately.
“Thankfully, we have stayed in contact with the cruise operator constantly, and up until two days ago we were still possibly going to make it, but eventually we just had to accept that it just wouldn’t happen.
“I wouldn’t like to get other people’s hopes up in our situation, though. I think we have been very lucky that Tui has agreed to let us travel next year instead.
“A lot of companies I think may just say that you have lost your place and can’t be refunded.”
Application process should take 14 days
The NHS Inform website states that the application process should take 14 days for proof of vaccination.
However, in many cases, investigations into delayed certificates can take more than a week to start and then at least a further fortnight days to be completed.
The couple say they do not use the internet or smartphones, so all their applications have been done over the phone or by post.
Wendy Chamberlain, the North East Fife MP, has been looking into issues with vaccine status applications and has also taken on the couple’s case.
She said: “The mismanagement of the vaccine reporting system in Scotland is ongoing with no sign of improvements being implemented.
“It has created needless confusion for thousands of people, and on top of that our care systems across the four nations of the UK appear to be working completely separately without any coordination or clear guidance.
“I have contacted NHS Scotland, NHS England, NHS Inform, National Services Scotland, the Covid helpline and the cabinet secretary for health, Humza Yousaf.
“Each of them has told me a different story but none of them have been able to get to the bottom of any of the issues I have raised about the scheme, or most importantly resolved my constituents’ individual situations.”
‘Fallen below standards set’
Martin Morrison, of NHS National Services Scotland, said; “We have conducted an urgent review into the situation and regret that, on this rare occasion, we have fallen below the high standards we have set.
“We deeply regret the inconvenience this has caused Mr and Mrs Adams”
Oil workers ‘effectively banned from Norway’ due to Scotland Covid-app delay, MSP claims