‘I’m trapped in a bureaucratic nightmare’
Italian living in Glasgow tells of failed attempts to obtain Covid vaccination certificate
AN Italian woman living in Glasgow says she feels “trapped in a crazy bureaucratic nightmare” over failed attempts to obtain her Covid vaccination certificate.
Paola Rizzato, 48, received both of her jags in Glasgow after moving from England to Scotland with her English husband in February, but there is no record of her in the NHS Inform website which links patients to their certificates.
The Herald has previously revealed how hundreds of Scots have jammed the certificate helpline over missing and incorrect vaccine records, which may also become mandatory for entry into some domestic venues.
Ms Rizzato, who has lived in the UK since 1994 and holds British citizenship, is desperate to visit her sister in Milan, who she last saw in February 2020.
Italy is open to fully-vaccinated visitors from the UK if they test negative for Covid and self-isolate on arrival. However, from tomorrow, Italy’s nationwide “green pass” system also means that anyone wanting to dine at restaurants or visit any leisure venues such as cinemas must have proof of at least one vaccination.
The Italian government is also considering requiring the green pass for travel by train, plane and long- distance bus within the country from September.
Ms Rizzato said: “I’ve missed every window of opportunity because of the constantly changing situation with this virus, and now they will have these compulsory green passes but I can’t even prove that I’ve had this vaccine.”
Despite having registered with a GP surgery in Glasgow, Ms Rizzato never received any vaccination appointment letters from the NHS.
She was eventually invited by telephone to attend the SSE Hydro in Glasgow in May and obtained her second Covid vaccine by visiting a drop-in clinic in mid-july, but attempts to obtain her status certificate via NHS Inform have failed because there is no record of her in the database.
“I think my details have never been
put into that system,” said Ms Rizzato, who is self-employed. She has contacted the Covid vaccination status helpline who told her they would “escalate” her case and praised a “very helpful” NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, who emailed NHS National Services Scotland – the quango overseeing the vaccination programme and helplines – on her behalf, attaching a screenshot of her GP vaccine record showing that she was fully inoculated.
However, there is still no record of her on the central database.
“Someone, somewhere must be in charge of NHS Inform, but it’s as if nobody is,” said Ms Rizzato.
“It’s like being trapped in this crazy bureaucratic nightmare.”
Meanwhile, a family of four from Bute has been forced to postpone a planned trip to France for a fourth time due to vaccine certificate errors.
Andrea Dow, 49, was fully vaccinated at the island’s GP practice in May and July this year but there is no record of the second Covid jag on her certificate.
She needs to prove she is fully vaccinated to visit her mother in
France, but currently only has a GP record, which is not valid for travel.
The family has rescheduled for the end of August but this would mean taking their two children – who have not seen their grandmother in two years – out of school.
Her husband, Richard Whitcomb,
said: “It’s not ideal, and of course there’s no guarantee it’ll be sorted. If somebody could say ‘yes, someone is looking at it and it’ll definitely be sorted in 10 days or even a month’, then we could plan, but we can’t.
“Each time we’ve called [the helpline], which is four if not five times, they say they’ll ‘put an alert on it’. That’s the terminology.
“That’s the frustrating thing – I don’t actually think they can help.”
A Scottish Government spokesman apologised, adding that it is now looking into both cases and had resolved Ms Rizzato’s last night.
He added: “We are working hard to ensure everyone who calls it gets the support and advice that they need.”
Someone, somewhere must be in charge of NHS Inform, but it’s as if nobody is