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March 28, 2024, 12:53:28 PM

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Scottish covid vaccination passes

Started by Mobbd, August 25, 2021, 03:56:25 PM

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Mobbd

Has any fellow Scotch CaBbers gone to Europe with an NHS Scotland vaccine pass yet? How did it go for you?

Basically, Scotland's equivalent to the "NHS COVID Pass" has no QR code and is never mentioned specifically on an EU country's entry requirements page. Urgh.

I'm dying to go to France to see a friend for the first time in about 3 years and I think I've got my head around the entry criteria now (no need to quarantine, no need to test on the way out, yes need to fill out a sworn statement, yes to proof of vaccination status, yes test on return). But, actually, fuck knows. And in the unlikely event that I have understood things correctly, I am worried about our slightly rinky-dink vaccination pass.

I'm going to end up in a cage for idiots at the airport, aren't I?

Any experiences/anecdotes welcome.

greencalx

Someone I know had their first jab in Scotland, the second in Germany and was admitted to the US with their weird combination of vaccine passports.

From today you can print out a QR-enabled version of your vaccine record. I've already got mine stashed away with my actual passport.

Sebastian Cobb

No I forgot to send off for the printed one and now know I can print one out myself but also forgot about it and whilst haven't explicitly lost the letter am not entirely sure where it is.

I could ask about the 'going to france' thing if you like. I've got a French colleague who took the eurotunnel to see family recently, I think they had to do something at the (glasgow) airport to get a ticket anyway.

greencalx

vacs.nhs.scot

You need the login name that was printed on your invite letter. If you've lost that as well, then I'm guessing you're not that fussed about going anywhere.

Mobbd

Quote from: greencalx on September 03, 2021, 08:40:34 PM
From today you can print out a QR-enabled version of your vaccine record. I've already got mine stashed away with my actual passport.

Quote from: greencalx on September 03, 2021, 10:09:06 PM
vacs.nhs.scot

You need the login name that was printed on your invite letter. If you've lost that as well, then I'm guessing you're not that fussed about going anywhere.

Fabulous. Thank you, greencalx. PDF version downloaded and paper version requested.

For anyone else reading this, the website asks that you only request a paper version within 14 days of travel. Suspecting that they only say this for their own project management/convenience, I made my request anyway so I can be travel ready. There is nothing on the PDF version at least to suggest that it times out (aside from the QR code itself being valid for 12 months).

Feeling better about travel from Scottish airports now.

Mobbd

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on September 03, 2021, 08:53:19 PM
I could ask about the 'going to france' thing if you like. I've got a French colleague who took the eurotunnel to see family recently, I think they had to do something at the (glasgow) airport to get a ticket anyway.

Oh, please ask them if you get the opportunity, Seb. Curious to know what they had to do at Glasgow Airport.

Mobbd

"Scottish vaccine certificates are not yet accepted for domestic use in France"

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/france/entry-requirements

Not sure what "domestic use" means. Flying within France, I suppose?

greencalx

There is some confusion here. My understanding is that the QR code is currently readable only by immigration staff etc - that's the secure part of the vaccine passport, and is valid only alongside some national ID (passport / driving licence). For domestic use (nightclubs etc) there is a problem in that since door staff won't have the right scanners, and the PDF can be easily edited to change name and address, some people aren't accepting them. I'm not sure there's much difference with the paper copy they send you - maybe it's on fancier paper with a busy background so harder to fake.

Apparently they are working on an app that can scan the codes for domestic use, but I can't imagine your average French bouncer having each national code scanner app installed...

greencalx

I should add it's hard to get definitive information on this - most of the discourse around vaccine certificates is whether or not they're going to be mandated for certain activities in this country. I've seen nothing that says, in black and white, that you can use the downloadable document to enter a foreign country. I've seen it reported by the BBC, but not actually from the horses mouth.

NattyDread 2

Quote from: greencalx on September 03, 2021, 10:09:06 PM
vacs.nhs.scot

You need the login name that was printed on your invite letter. If you've lost that as well, then I'm guessing you're not that fussed about going anywhere.

Or if, like me, you didn't get a letter then you can generate a login name by entering the date of one of your jags.

Mobbd

Quote from: greencalx on September 05, 2021, 02:30:56 PM
There is some confusion here. My understanding is that the QR code is currently readable only by immigration staff etc - that's the secure part of the vaccine passport, and is valid only alongside some national ID (passport / driving licence). For domestic use (nightclubs etc) there is a problem in that since door staff won't have the right scanners, and the PDF can be easily edited to change name and address, some people aren't accepting them. I'm not sure there's much difference with the paper copy they send you - maybe it's on fancier paper with a busy background so harder to fake.

Apparently they are working on an app that can scan the codes for domestic use, but I can't imagine your average French bouncer having each national code scanner app installed...

It never occurred to me that "domestic use" would mean nightclubs and whatnot. The Vaccine Passport is a whole other thing. I just want the proof of vaccination status that will let me fly. I can't believe "domestic use" would refer to that, would it? In a web page about national entry requirements? Surely it means domestic flights within France? Gawd, maybe you're right.

greencalx

I dunno. It would be odd if they let you fly into the country on it, but then not within the country (unless it's for the reason that the agents checking the certificates on domestic flights don't have access to the same kit as those doing so for international flights, which is possible, but weird).

Apologies for using "passport" and "certificate" interchangeably. The doc you download from the website is a certificate. So is the thing they send you. I think they look the same, bar the paper they're printed on, but have not been able to verify yet. Would be nice if there was something clear and simple in black and white out there but I've not seen it yet, and it's worrying that someone who is trying a lot harder than me is also coming back confused.

Sebastian Cobb

Quote from: Mobbd on September 05, 2021, 12:07:16 PM
Oh, please ask them if you get the opportunity, Seb. Curious to know what they had to do at Glasgow Airport.

Alright, will do.

Mobbd

Quote from: greencalx on September 05, 2021, 08:55:18 PM
I dunno. It would be odd if they let you fly into the country on it, but then not within the country (unless it's for the reason that the agents checking the certificates on domestic flights don't have access to the same kit as those doing so for international flights, which is possible, but weird).

Apologies for using "passport" and "certificate" interchangeably. The doc you download from the website is a certificate. So is the thing they send you. I think they look the same, bar the paper they're printed on, but have not been able to verify yet. Would be nice if there was something clear and simple in black and white out there but I've not seen it yet, and it's worrying that someone who is trying a lot harder than me is also coming back confused.

Hey, no sweat whatsoever. Thanks for putting me on the right path to answers. The confusion comes entirely from the way these important government pages have been thrown together. Barely competent. Sign of the end times, I'm certain.

Mobbd

Just in case anyone stumbles upon this thread, the NHS Scotland proof of vaccination status now comes with QR codes.

This is a good thing. It can indeed be requested (or downloaded and printed) from vacs.nhs.scot.

greencalx

Also the one they send you is identical to the one you download and print out, except on slightly higher GSM paper (in may case, though that depends on what stock you use in your printer). I had wondered if the official version would have some watermarking behind the name and address to make it harder to forge, but it doesn't. I guess all the security is in the QR code.

greencalx

Not sure if this is the best thread, but I've just got back from a few days in Germany, and despite John Swinney's insistence that our QR codes would be internationally readable, in practice they weren't, but this is not an issue. As long as you have something, whether on paper or on your phone, specifying which vaccines you've had and when, and some ID (driving license was fine) you could get in anywhere.

The border guard wasn't very interested in the vaccine certificate - basically just wanted to see that I had one. Checking into hotels was a right royal PITA, with lots of forms to fill out. Venues seemed to be operating either a 2G or a 3G system. The difference is that you can get into a 3G venue with with a negative test, but for 2G you need either to have been vaccinated or recovered from infection. The assumption then is that you are basically immune and there are no restrictions at all. In one city we had to go through quite lengthy checks to get into a bar: once inside it seems to be mandatory to lick other customers. In another city, I think they were technically 2G but there were no checks at all: I think a waiter asked us if we had a certificate as we entered, but didn't want to see it. This was a sort of beer hall place that must have had 100-odd people sitting cheek-to-jowl.

I await the result of my Day 2 test...

Leaving the country was a right fucking shitshow, massive queue at security and had my docs checked about 4 times, although weirdly not on entry to the UK. I suspect that the UK govt has placed all onus on the airlines to make sure that people have all the paperwork in place. The passenger locator form is painful to fill out, despite the fact that the information it gathers from you is fairly straightforward to provide and there isn't actually that much of it.

Zetetic

Huh, we didn't really have to fill out much when checking into a hotel in Stuttgart (have done the online stuff). I wonder if it's a state/city thing you encountered, or if they've become more stringent? Where were you greencalx?

Very variable whether anyone even wanted to pretend to look at our vaccine passes. Most interrogation we got was in a hospital, and that was mostly someone confused by two people visiting the same bloke being vaccinated in two different cities.

greencalx

There are different rules in different states, I understand. This was further north (Niedersachsen and Hessen).