'Quarantine Pass' Down for Two Consecutive Days... "Due to Overload in Issuing Vaccination Certificates, Please Issue Them in Advance" (Summary)

Partial App Access Disruptions Continue on the 14th Following Previous Day
Authorities Emphasize "Proof via Screenshots Not Possible"

On the second day of the mandatory 'Quarantine Pass' enforcement on the 14th, some QR code check-ins experienced connection errors again during lunchtime due to the vaccination certificate mobile application being down, causing confusion in enforcement. Citizens are waiting for their party members to complete the verification.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] "They said they increased the servers, but it still doesn't work. I guess I'll have to use another app for now."

On the 14th, the second day after the grace period for the vaccination certificate and negative test confirmation system (quarantine pass) for restaurants and cafes ended, confusion surrounding the quarantine pass continued, just as it did the day before. During lunchtime that day, access failures occurred on applications (apps) used for the quarantine pass, such as QOOV (electronic vaccination certificate) and Naver.

However, unlike the previous day, not all apps were accessible, and in the restaurant districts around Jung-gu, scenes unfolded where groups informed each other which apps were currently accessible. There were also cumbersome situations where people presented certificates using the QOOV app but had to make additional reassurance calls via safe call.

The government had stated that smooth usage would be possible from that day, but some vaccine certification mobile apps became unresponsive, causing confusion. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced that "emergency server expansion and service optimization work were carried out overnight, and we expect the electronic vaccination certificate issuance to be smoother."

However, contrary to the authorities' explanation, intermittent access failures occurred again from around 12 PM on that day when issuing electronic certificates through Naver and QOOV. Regarding this, KDCA spokesperson Ko Jae-young said, "There was no issue with QOOV around 12 PM, but some failures occurred with the Naver app," and Naver also confirmed, "It was normalized around 12:10 PM, and we understand that it is currently operating without delays."

On the 14th during lunchtime, citizens are lining up at a cafe on Sejong-daero, Jung-gu, Seoul to have their vaccination certificates (QR codes) verified. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Confusion increased especially when the KDCA issued a notice around 11:40 AM before lunchtime, saying, "Please obtain and use your vaccination certificate (QR code) from Naver, Kakao, etc., at a convenient time." This was interpreted as advising users to capture screenshots after issuing their vaccination certificate. Currently, the quarantine authorities do not recognize quarantine passes or entry log registrations through captured screens as a measure against system failures.

Kim Yumi, head of the Daily Quarantine Management Team, explained the cause of the current overload on the quarantine pass system, saying, "It was a request to reduce the overload," and "It appears that many people who had not used vaccination certificates before started authenticating for the first time."

Until the 13th, when the quarantine pass mandate for restaurants and cafes was effectively introduced, those who had not used electronic certificates began issuing vaccination certificates in large numbers during lunch and dinner times, causing overload. Kim emphasized again, "If you get your vaccination authentication in advance, generating the QR code is not difficult, so you can avoid failures," urging people to complete the authentication process ahead of peak access times.

Son Young-rae, head of the Social Strategy Division at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, also mentioned during the COVID-19 regular briefing that day, "One of the issues on the 13th was that many people receiving certification for the first time crowded the servers during lunch and dinner times, which the servers could not handle," and added, "If you get your initial authentication at a convenient time today, you can use the system much more smoothly."

The government also announced that, as on the previous day, no administrative penalties such as fines will be imposed on business owners who could not verify vaccination records due to access failures. However, users who abuse this by presenting false vaccination records may be subject to fines.