Alyssa Tubb is a new mom with a strong desire to follow the province's COVID-19 public health rules.
The Coquitlam woman received both her shots last spring as soon as she was eligible, but her BC Vaccine Card says she’s only half vaccinated.
Having a partially vaccinated blue status on her mobile card means Tubb can’t do many things she’d like to do with her 11-month-old baby and she's worried a trip to the U.S. to visit family will be jeopardized by the incorrect vaccine card.
She says it’s a bureaucratic headache that's adding more stress to the anxieties of having a baby during a pandemic.
"It doesn’t makes sense," said Tubb.
"Why would you put a [proof of vaccine] program in place that you are not ready to implement?"
Tubb, who got her second COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S. in June while attending a family funeral, is one of an unknown number of British Columbians whose vaccine card is not up to date.
She provided information about the U.S. shot to her BC Health Gateway records in August but on Oct. 27, shortly after two shots were required for discretionary events, she logged on to find out the information hadn’t been updated to prove she was fully vaccinated.
"My hope would be that someone just does what the website is supposed to do — what the form says will happen — you submit updates to be recorded and it is updated in seven to 10 days," said Tubb.
"I’m not asking for anything drastic here. I’m just asking the government to follow through on their part what they ask me to do."
When she called the immunization records office, Tubb said she was told she couldn’t get her status updated right then and wasn’t provided any timeline for a call-back because "there are potentially thousands of these cases."
B.C.'s Ministry of Health acknowledges the vaccine program is a massive undertaking, but says incidents of incorrect vaccine records are "not common."
However, it says there may be issues when people submit vaccine records from outside the province — they may not be accepted by the BC vaccination registry.
"In these situations, individuals will be contacted and asked to provide necessary supplementary information from the location in which they were vaccinated," a ministry spokesman said in an email to the Tri-City News.
Tubb didn’t receive any follow up call until the Tri-City News provided her contact directly to a ministry official.
On Wednesday, Nov. 3, Tubb reported that her vaccine card had been updated after someone from the ministry called and asked her to re-submit her vaccine information.
She said the information was updated manually, she was told, but she couldn't confirm how many other people were experiencing delays in getting their vaccine status updated.
"So my individual problem is solved," Tubb said, but she worries about others struggling with getting their BC Vaccine Card updated.
The health ministry says people can get their vaccine status updated online and says "every effort will be made to add your vaccine record within 4-7 days, however, this service will be impacted during periods of high volumes."
The ministry advises people to take the following steps:
- If you are seeking to update your vaccine status, you must submit your documents through https://www.immunizationrecord.gov.bc.ca/
- Once you do, your documents will be reviewed and the immunization record will be updated
- If you’re a new resident to B.C. you can use your immunization record from out-of-province until you access your BC Vaccine Card
- New and returning B.C. residents vaccinated outside of B.C. must use this service to submit their vaccine records to obtain a BC Vaccine Card.
- Those who have had difficulties obtaining their BC Vaccine Card on time, should call 1-833-838-2323 or reach out to Service BC who can help expedite the process for you
