The key points as of 12/07/2021 are:
- The vaccine pass is only available for patients that have completed their entire vaccine course within England
- Vaccines given as part of a clinical trial will not show in the vaccine pass
- Vaccine passes are not the GP’s responsibility – GP Practice’s have no control over the system or how it is implemented
Patients can request a letter either by calling 119 or visiting https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/ coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/vaccination-status-for-travelling-abroad/.
Patient’s can also check/prove their status on the NHS app, which has a dedicated NHS COVID Pass page that links to National Immunisation Management System or NIMS. Note that the NHS app also allows patients to check their GP Health Record, which includes an Immunisations page. This is not linked to NIMS and is not the NHS COVID Pass, even if it may show COVID-19 vaccinations.
Vaccines done as part of a clinical trial
The official advice on the government website for patient’s that have had their vaccine as part of a clinical trial, is that they should have received a print-out confirming their vaccination as part of the trial, and that they should use that as their evidence of being vaccinated.
Some vaccines such as the single dose Janssen vaccine are starting to appear in the NHS app, though which vaccines are added and what time interval is covered remains outside of the GP’s control.
Vaccines given outside England (but in the UK)
Vaccines given in England are recorded in the National Immunisation Management Service (NIMS) system. The other UK nations use different systems, in Northern Ireland vaccinations are recorded by the Vaccines Management System (VMS), whilst in Wales vaccinations are recorded by the Welsh Immunisation System (WIS), and a different system is again in use in Scotland based on CHI numbers.
The NHS COVID-19 Vaccination pass is only available if the full course (usually two vaccines) are on the English NIMS system. If one or both of the vaccines are in one of these other systems then the vaccination pass will not be available. These vaccinations should be recorded as per the same guidelines for recording vaccinations given outside the UK.
It may however be possible for patients that had both doses in one of the other UK nations to get the equivalent of the English vaccination letter.
For Scotland: https://www.nhsinform.scot/covid-19-vaccine/after-your-vaccine/get-a-record- of-your-coronavirus-covid-19-vaccination-status
For Wales: https://gov.wales/get-nhs-covid-pass-show-your-vaccination-status-travel
For Northern Ireland: https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/get-covid-19-vaccination-northern- ireland