Ministry implements interim solution for My Vaccine Pass

eHealthNews.nz: Covid-19

Ministry implements interim solution for My Vaccine Pass

Thursday, 2 December 2021

Share |

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

Interim vaccine pass The Ministry of Health has emailed a temporary exemption to up to 70,000 people who are waiting for help to get their My Vaccine Pass.

The exemption is a record of the person’s request for help and has a unique identifier. It can be shown to businesses and organisations that require a My Vaccine Pass and is valid until 11.59pm on 14 December 2021.

The Ministry says more than 3 million My Vaccine Passes have been issued to date and more than 95% of people who requested one have received their pass.

However there are around 70,000 requests for assistance, including people who need to add international vaccinations to their New Zealand record; people who need their name changed; and people whose records have other errors that need to be corrected.

“It is important these individuals are not unfairly disadvantaged when New Zealand moves to the Covid Protection Framework,” says Michael Dreyer, group manager national digital services.

“The temporary exemption is a pragmatic measure in response to the unprecedented demand our call centres are facing.”

Capacity at Ministry of Health call centres was increased after the My Vaccine Pass system went live on November 17 and nearly 70,000 calls were recorded on November 25.

Dreyer says despite scaling up their processing team significantly, not every request could be resolved by 3 December when the traffic light system starts.

“If you are waiting to hear back from our call centre or service desk, keep an eye on your email including your junk folder,” says Dreyer.

“Over the next few days we will also be phoning people who have outstanding requests with us but who have not provided an email address.”

People can request their My Vaccine Pass via the My Covid Record website , calling the helpline or at participating pharmacies, general practices, hauora, and DHB vaccination clinics.