Grangemouth man’s £400 spent trying to get vaccine passport proof for French holiday

Dad-of-two Walter Linton, 57, an industrial chemist, had planned to visit Nice, in the south of France, earlier this month for a holiday and to look into developing property.

He received his first vaccination in March and began trying to prove he had received both jabs in May - but learnt there was no evidence of his first jab.

But with strict protocols in France demanding visitors prove they have received both jabs, Mr Linton has wasted £390 on non-refundable accommodation fees.

He has now rescheduled the trip until October but has no confidence it will go ahead.

There is no record of his first vaccine appointment, administered at Falkirk College on March 17, and he contacted a helpline three times - in May, August and September.

Mr Linton has had no luck getting the issue resolved and said call handlers told him they could see he had been fully vaccinated but were not authorised to amend his record.

France has strict travel rules which ban entry to adults who are not fully vaccinated unless they have a "compelling reason" to visit, and even then must self-isolate on arrival and present proof of a negative test.

Once there, entry into bars, restaurants and other public spaces is also restricted without a health pass showing proof of vaccination, a negative Covid test, or recovery from infection within the previous six months.

Mr Linton said: "The last guy I spoke to said to me 'I can see data that assures me you have had that first jab, it's in a different system, but I cannot get the system to deliver your vaccine passport because it just hasn't been transferred across properly, but the resolutions team will sort that out for you'.

"He said the system was 'so bad' - he was aware that they were resolving cases, but they're not exactly resolving them at any rate.

"It drives you mad.

"They're just going into a black hole.

The Scottish Government has been approached for comment

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