earlier this month, health minister
christian dubé announced
that the government would launch a free mobile app that people who are fully vaccinated can use to access non-essential services, including bars, restaurants, gyms, outdoor festivals and sporting events. people who are not fully vaccinated will not be able to get the vaccine passport and will not be able to access these places once the system is set up.
for those who don’t have a smartphone, a paper proof of vaccination can be presented instead.
the government also says the vaccine passport can be used to travel abroad, but again, it’s unclear how that would work and which countries would accept the passport. some countries don’t accept people who have mixed doses, which is something that could affect millions of canadians.
vaccine passports will not be necessary to enter schools, cegeps and universities, and staff at bars, restaurants and sporting and entertainment events will not have to be fully vaccinated. this is because the provincial labour code does not allow employers to demand this of their employees.
the thinking behind the vaccine passport is that it will allow the government to control the spread of covid-19 without having to implement another major lockdown. on its web page about the vaccine passport, the government notes that when the qr code on a fully vaccinated person’s phone is scanned, an “adequately protected” message will appear in green. if the person is not fully vaccinated, the message displayed will be “not adequately protected” and they will be denied entry. someone is considered “adequately protected” seven days after receiving the second dose of the vaccine.