Having a provincially accepted proof of COVID-19 vaccination would be “useful” for Ottawa residents and businesses trying to navigate through the impending fourth wave of the virus, the city’s medical officer of health said Thursday.
Dr. Vera Etches spoke to councillors and reporters about the challenges of uneven vaccination policies province-to-province.
Starting Sept. 1 across the Ottawa River in Gatineau, some businesses such as restaurants and gyms will only be accessible to those with a vaccine passport, while no such rules have been announced in Ontario.
“A provincial system would be useful, because we’re all connected, people travel across the province. Having one system for people to indicate that they’re vaccinated that’s a little easier for businesses to use is something that’s still under discussion,” she said.
“There is interest in something that’s more consistent and easier to use.”
Etches said she is having regular conversations with the chief medical officer of health about the value in being “prepared” to implement a proof of vaccination for the province, should COVID-19 levels reach a point where people being vaccinated becomes a prerequisite for accessing certain services or events.
Etches demurred when asked if an Ottawa-wide proof of vaccination could be in the works, saying she wasn’t sure whether she had authority as the local medical officer of health to implement such a measure.
“That does sound beyond the reach of what public health authorities are used to,” she said. “Nothing’s off the table. But we know this is best accomplished by the province.”
Ontario officials have pushed back against COVID-19 certificates, despite support from the province’s science advisory table and business groups.
As some businesses across Ontario put mandatory vaccination policies in place — attendees at a Toronto Raptors game will need to show proof of the jab or a negative test result, for example — Etches said Ottawa residents should “know where their proof of immunization is” if similar situations arise in Ottawa.
“It is valuable to be able to demonstrate you’ve been protected with two doses, if your employer is requiring it, if events you’re going to require it, it is useful to keep that record,” she said, though she stopped short of saying residents should print off their vaccination records and carry them in their wallets.
Under current provincial rules, businesses are expected to have a COVID-19 safety plan readily available. Vaccinations should now be a part of that plan, Etches said Thursday.
She did not say that businesses are expected to mandate vaccinations among staff, but expressed support for policies that see employees disclose their vaccination status and given resources from their employer to get educated about vaccines.
Etches also said Thursday that OPH itself has wider immunization requirements among its staff and is currently working to add COVID-19 vaccinations to that policy.
Ottawa’s top doctor also came out in favour of vaccine declarations for students in school, primarily as a tool for OPH to be able to effectively contact trace possible COVID-19 exposures among vaccinated or unvaccinated youth. A child who is fully vaccinated and is a close contact of a confirmed case would not need to isolate for 10 days afterwards.
She said OPH is expanding a pilot project this fall used for special needs students in the previous school year and at some day-camps this summer to send children experiencing COVID-19 symptoms home with a coronavirus test.
These will be PCR tests, not rapid antigen tests, Etches said, so they will still need to be processed at a local lab. An OPH courier would be dispatched to pick up the sample from the student following a test.