Problems for J&J jab certificate resolved - government

Updated 12.40pm, adds with government statement

Technical problems related to the COVID-19 vaccine certificate of individuals who were administered the Johnson & Johnson jab have been resolved, the government said on Tuesday.

It said in a statement the technical fix was required following reports of verification problems in various EU countries.

The authorities said that the update will automatically be implemented once the vaccine certificate is reprinted from the official website.

They urged people who intend to use the certificate abroad to reprint it before travelling and added that further assistance is available on helpline 145.

The government statement followed a report in Times of Malta saying that people who have had the Johnson and Johnson jab in Malta are still being told their certificate is not valid in some countries.

Two weeks ago, those who had taken the single dose jab here were reassured a solution had been found to the technical problems which rendered their certificate invalid when scanned on official government applications of at least six countries.

Then, a health ministry spokesperson said the problem had been fixed for all countries except France, Switzerland and Luxembourg, and advised those travelling there to contact covid-certificate@gov.mt to reissue their certificate.

However, Times of Malta, was then contacted by five people who expressed frustration that despite going through the proper channels, and following instructions, their certificate was still reading as faulty on many other countries’ official government apps.

Latvia national Polina Korenecka was on holiday in her home country when she wrote to the health ministry authorities in Malta about problems she met with her certificate on July 30, which had barred her from getting into clubs and restaurants.

It’s taking way too long to fix, and I am getting really frustrated now

She was told to re-generate her certificate, and did so, only to be turned away at a club that night, after it read as invalid when scanned.

Korenecka has since followed up with emails to the same health authorities, but to date has been presented with no solution, she said.

“It’s taking way too long to fix, and I am getting really frustrated now," she said.

“You pay a lot of money to get into events and then have problems like these, because some people did not do their work right."

A Portuguese national also said she was extremely annoyed at “going around in circles” in trying to fix her certificate – which was deemed invalid, on Greek, Italian and Portuguese official government apps, among others – and was stressed out about her trip back home on Wednesday.

“In Portugal right now, they are scanning certificates everywhere – even to get into weddings,” she said.

“It’s a bit like the temperature checks in Malta. You need to do one to be allowed in most places.”

She initially wrote to the health authorities about the situation in July – when she was told to go to the police, who in turn told her they could not help – most recently on August 2.

While she had sent in the required documentation they requested, it had been almost a week, and she still had not heard back from the same health authorities, she said.