A Maltese man missed saying goodbye to his dying brother because public health officials kept wrongly insisting that his New Zealand vaccine certificate was not valid for travel to Malta.

Christopher Hayes hit out at the “callous indifference” and “gross incompetence” of the COVID help desk after he was repeatedly told his certificate was not accepted.

When he eventually defied the advice and travelled to Malta this week, his COVID-19 certificate was scanned and recognised at the airport without any issue.

But, by that time, his brother, John, had already died from cancer, at the age of 53.

Under the health ministry’s complicated COVID-19 travel rules, Malta recognises the EU digital COVID vaccination certificate issued by countries in the bloc as well as non-EU countries connected to the system.

New Zealand officially joined the EU digital COVID-19 vaccination certificate system on November 15, a move that should have allowed Hayes to travel to Malta to be by his brother’s side.

“I understand that people make mistakes but, throughout my six e-mails, I was providing them with the links to the EU’s website demonstrating that New Zealand had joined the EU’s digital COVID vaccination certificate system,” he said.

“You can’t treat people like that. It’s about these elusive people at the COVID-19 help desk who are faceless and uncontactable. But for their seeming indifference, I might have managed to make it in time to say goodbye to my brother.”

Christopher was living in New Zealand when he received his first Pfizer vaccine and relocated to the UK in July, where he received his second dose.

When he looked into travelling to Malta in October, to visit relatives he had not seen in two years, the New Zealand vaccine certificate was not yet recognised in the EU so he decided not to visit to avoid two weeks in quarantine.

But, 10 days ago, he learned that his brother – who was diagnosed with cancer a year ago – was deteriorating fast.

The pair had always been close and had become “great friends” as they became older but his brother became very unwell earlier this month.

When he was eventually admitted to hospital, Christopher urgently wanted to be by his side. He was relieved to find out that New Zealand had joined the EU digital COVID-19 vaccination certificate system.

The exchange of communication

On November 22, he wrote to the COVID-19 help desk e-mail, which is manned by the public health team.

He made the urgency of the situation very clear saying: “My brother, John Hayes, is suffering from terminal cancer and has, over the last 24 hours, taken a turn for the worse.”

Apart from the Maltese vaccine certificate, Malta recognises EU digital COVID vaccination certificates, issued by the EU, the EEA and non-EU countries.

The Travel to Malta official government website goes on to note that: “The EU digital COVID vaccination certificate includes certificates from Albania, Andorra, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Israel, Liechtenstein, Morocco, North Macedonia, Norway, Panama, San Marino, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and Vatican City.”

While New Zealand is not listed on the website, it is however listed on the official EU digital COVID vaccination certificates website.

Christopher mapped this out in this first e-mail. But in an e-mail exchange seen by Times of Malta he continued to be denied authorisation to travel.

Several calls to the health department proved fruitless as no one seemed to know how to reach the help desk by telephone.

As he was calling from overseas, Christopher was unable to access the 145 COVID number. 

Christopher stuck to his argument. He told them his brother may be close to death and asked for his request to be referred to management.

On the 24th he was told: “Your vaccination certificates are not yet recognised in Malta since there are no bilateral agreements between the two countries for such.”

To this he replied: “It doesn’t make any sense… is the EU website wrong? Or is Malta choosing to ignore the terms of the agreement reached by the EU with New Zealand? In the meantime… my brother’s death is drawing near.”

Again, a reply the following morning read: “The mentioned certificate is not online and not verifiable as yet. Thanks and regards.”

Christopher finally wrote back: “My brother passed away yesterday evening and I need to travel to Malta to assist with his funeral arrangements. Will you please, for God’s sake, come to your senses so I can book a flight.”

To date, Christopher has not received any further communication. 

Relief and anger

The day after, on the 26th, he decided he had had enough and booked a flight to Malta.

“To my astonishment, when I landed in Malta my vaccine certificates (of New Zealand and UK vaccines) were scanned and both were accepted without issue.

“After all that, it was relief and anger: relief that I was admitted to the country without a hitch but anger that their apparent indifference and incompetence meant that whatever opportunity I might have had of bidding farewell to my brother had been lost.”

Times of Malta contacted the health authorities for comment on Tuesday. A spokesperson said the authorities would investigate.