Getting definitive information about what the plan is as far as a vaccine passport in Ontario has been like pulling teeth, with Premier Doug Ford appearing to shift his stance on the topic in recent days after stating last month that the province would definitely not be joining other provinces in adopting some sort of proof of vaccination system.
The rumoured change of heart comes after weeks of politicians, local businesses, health officials and more — including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and all of the respective medical officers of health of each public health region — imploring Ford's team to do so.
The regional top doctors in the province vowed to take things into their own hands and "explore what could be done locally on a vaccine certificate program absent of a provincial solution," Dr. Lawrence Loh of Peel Region said last week, no doubt prompting Ford to finally take action on the matter.
This is happening with or without you @fordnation , so step up https://t.co/4ogU9SSZmg
— André (@andreNim) August 27, 2021
Inside sources confirmed to multiple news outlets on Friday that some type of vaccine certificate system to be used in settings like restaurants, movie theatres and major events was on the way, allegedly to be formally publicized on Tuesday.
But, the announcement was delayed after a cabinet meeting in which Ford expressed disapproval of and asked for changes to the proposed program, according to CityNews, and Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore cancelled his weekly COVID-19 press briefing as a result.
Ontario Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca then provided some unconfirmed details to the outlet, saying that there was talk of a phased approach that would not be fully rolled out until November.
"That's concerning to me because there is an urgent need to get it out and get it deployed and make sure it is right," he said on Breakfast Television today.
"There is such a broad consensus of support across Ontario for this, we need to move quicky."
This is an abject failure of leadership.#Ontario has had weeks to create and implement a #COVID19 vaccine certificate, and had a working prototype for one since January: https://t.co/paDD9pIjfv
— Nathan Stall (@NathanStall) August 31, 2021
These unforgivable delays will result in preventable death, suffering and hardship. https://t.co/7oeKTFpfQy
While Ford stated that he feared a vaccine passport would create a sort of "split society," the idea is to prevent further lockdowns by limiting patrons in certain settings and circumstances to only those who have been fully vaccinated, rather than completely shutting a business or sector down.
As residents await a coherent update from the province, there are the receipts of COVID-19 inoculation that the Ministry of Health digitally and/or physically issued patients at the time of their shots, as well as the future federal proof of vaccination tool and the existing ArriveCAN app.
Many businesses have also already implemented their own policies, and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce has issued a guide to help them do so.
0 comments:
Post a Comment