British Columbia health officials say they are in full support of a vaccine passport for international travel.
Canada’s Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino announced on Wednesday that vaccine certificate will be common across all provinces, and will include the holder’s COVID-19 vaccination history, the date they got it, the type of jab they received and the location where they received their shot.
“Anything that encourages people to get vaccinated is important, it remains important,” B.C.’s provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Wednesday.
Health Minister Adrian Dix said they have been working with the federal government on the passport program and the province fully supports the idea.
“We’re a big part of that, we’re working with them, we support them in that and they support us,” he said.
“We’re working to ensure the details of it, of course, the requirement to have information accessible and to have privacy considerations taken into account.”
Quebec has already announced it will implement a COVID-19 vaccine passport as of Sept. 1, but will only be used for access to non-essential services, like gyms, bars, restaurants and festivals.