NHS COVID pass down for hours after Boris Johnson announces new restrictions
The NHS COVID pass, commonly referred to as a vaccine passport, will be made mandatory in a week's time for nightclubs and venues with large crowds - allowing people to prove they have had two vaccine doses or a negative lateral flow test result.
Thursday 9 December 2021 01:23, UK
The NHS COVID pass, which people can access through the health service's app, crashed within moments of the prime minister announcing Plan B restrictions will be introduced.
When clicking through the app to download the pass as Boris Johnson was hosting a Downing Street news conference, many users saw an error message appear, saying: {"message: "Too Many Requests"}.
Boris Johnson announces Plan B restrictions to combat spread of Omicron variant
Later on in the evening, the message changed to: "Please try again later.
"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".
The NHS COVID pass, commonly referred to as a vaccine passport, will be made mandatory in a week's time for nightclubs and venues with large crowds.
These include unseated indoor venues with more than 500 people, unseated outdoor venues with more than 4,000 people, and any venue with more than 10,000 people.
People will be able to use the pass to show either proof of two vaccine doses or a negative lateral flow test result.
The NHS said it was "aware of an issue affecting access to the NHS COVID Pass on the NHS app and website".
Live COVID updates from the UK and around the world
"This is being investigated as a priority and will update as soon as we can," it said on Twitter.
Several people reported having problems with accessing the pass.
More than an hour after the prime minister's news conference began, Twitter user Ben Barden said: "In the NHS app, the NHS COVID pass is currently showing 'too many requests'. Not surprising!"
Omicron cases 'doubling every 2-3 days' and expected to be dominant strain within a month
Another person said on Twitter: "Well my COVID pass on my NHS App seems not to be working... so that's a good start. This is all barmy".
One user said: "And now the NHS app is unable to provide COVID passports. You couldn't write this…"
And another account said: "NHS App seems to have lost mine and my son's vaccination record. I bet we're not the only people with this".
By the early hours of Thursday, the pass seemed to be available again, although NHS Digital had not yet updated its Twitter posts with this information.