On Wednesday, the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party’s (NDP) deputy leader, Nicole Sarauer, pointed out the many residents who are dealing with issues related to the proof of vaccination mandate.
The NDP are calling on the provincial government to work towards a free, accurate and easily-accessible way for residents to receive their proof of vaccination.
People who are more likely to have a name change, such as women, are not able to show a matching drivers license along with proof of vaccination.
There is also a possibility of names being misspelled and names which are too long to fit on a card or licence, meaning they also do not match.
“It hasn’t had any substantial implication for folks until the introduction of vaccine passports and there is no easy work around and as such they can not access health information in MySaskHealthRecords,” said Sarauer.
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Regina resident Genna Rodriguez spoke out about her experience with eHealth.
After getting married, Rodriguez received a health-care card with her name as Genna Rodriguez-Munoz, which does not match her driver’s licence or her Canadian passport with the name Genna Rodriguez.
She was told to change her name if she wants to have proof of vaccination, meaning she would have to change her name on all of her other official documents.
Her other option is to apply for a legal change of name which means she would have to forfeit her birth certificate and marriage certificate. Her children’s birth certificates would also be considered void.
“I’ve done all the right things. I followed the eHealth name procedures, I’ve got both my vaccines and I’ve bent over backwards to get this fixed. I still don’t have access to an accurate vaccine record,” said Rodriguez.
Another concern raised mentioned out-of-province people are able to email eHealth and receive their proof of vaccination for free.
Saskatchewan residents, however, are asked to pay a $20 fee to have their vaccination records printed.
“Why those living in Saskatchewan with Saskatchewan health cards could not have the same recourse as those without makes no sense,” said Sarauer.
The NDP deputy leader note that none of the processes for these residents are easy like they should be, considering they are residents of Saskatchewan.
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