Ontario's proof-of-vaccine website crashes on first day it takes effect

With Ontarians scrambling to get a copy of their proof of vaccination, Ontario’s website has crashed on the first day that the vaccine passport system has gone into effect.

Ontario’s vaccine passport system is officially in effect on September 22, requiring Ontarians to provide proof of vaccination for non-essential services like dining indoors, at restaurants, and using gyms and fitness centres.

my experience with #vaccinepassports so far today…

1. forgot it starts today
2. didn’t know if i need to register somewhere?
3. found out you do — at https://t.co/uncggTTYuj
4. tried to, but website didn’t work
5. finally was working, but needed health card with me#onpoli

— seher shafiq | civic engagement | politics (@heyitsseher) September 22, 2021

The website for Ontarians to access the receipts from their vaccinations seemed to be overloaded this morning.

It crashed for some users, while leading others to a waiting page. For those on the waiting page, the wait was short and worked in the end.

People had similar waits and website crashes when trying to book vaccinations, so for some, this glitch isn’t much of a surprise.

Ontario vaccine passport launch is going about as expected. #premierdad #COVID19Ontario #alwaysamess pic.twitter.com/eFQdV7TiRZ

— malackey (inside kid) (@malackey) September 22, 2021

A spokesperson for Minister Christine Elliot told Daily Hive that the temporary outage was due to routine maintenance, not a system overload.

“The website was temporarily down this morning due to routine maintenance, not due to demand. It is back up and running again,” said the spokesperson.

“Many Ontarians already have a copy of their receipt from when they got vaccinated or took the time over the last few weeks to download or print their receipt in preparation for today.”

If you don’t have it yet, you can find your vaccine receipt on the province’s website.