Thought of the Day - August 25 2021 - BC Vaccine Passports

BC has become the second province, after Quebec, to announce the implementation of a Vaccine Passport ( Thought of the Day - August 16 2021 - Our Federal Vaccine Passport ). It will be introduced with a single dose requirement as of September 13th, and from October 24 full-vaccination (for now this means double-vaccinated) will be required. The 'BC Vaccine Card' will be required to enter sporting events, nightclubs, restaurants, and movies, unless you are younger than 12 years of age, no exceptions.

The rationale given for BCs Vaccine Cards, as well as the re-introduction of the mask mandate:

“The Delta variant and an increase in cases, largely within the unvaccinated population, has led us to pause and reflect on what steps and what measures we can we take through public health and through other initiatives to protect British Columbians and to protect businesses,” said Horgan.

The B.C. Vaccine Card will be required for:

• indoor ticketed sporting events;

• indoor concerts;

• indoor theatre/dance/symphony events;

• restaurants (indoor and outdoor dining);

• night clubs;

• casinos;

• movie theatres;

• fitness centres/gyms (excluding youth recreational sport);

• businesses offering indoor high-intensity group exercise activities;

• organized indoor events (eg. weddings, parties, conferences, meetings, workshops);

• discretionary organized indoor group recreational classes and activities . . .

Bonnie Henry was quoted as saying "this is a temporary measure that’s getting us through a risky period". This system will be in place until at least January 2022. I would guess this timeframe was chosen to ensure enforcing venues know that this is not just for duration of our fourth wave and, by this time, arrangements for a third dose of vaccine will have been made.

“We have made incredible progress in our shared efforts to put the pandemic behind us but high levels of transmission among unvaccinated people mean that further action is needed to help reduce transmission to keep all of our businesses open and ensure we can continue to enjoy social events.” - in short, despite the fourth wave, one of the drivers of this policy seems to be is to facilitate BC moving forward with our final restart program step, the relaunch of mass public events.

Moreover, the announcement means it is unlikely there will be harmonization between the province and the passport strategy from Ottawa; so you may need to register your medical information in both systems.

I am sure passports will be a topical topic for many months to come.

Cheers

Cliff