COVID-19: Ontario provides more details on vaccine passport, QR code system | FULL

Ontario ministers and the province's top doctor provided more details on the upcoming COVID-19 vaccine passport system set to take effect on Sept. 22, including the planned QR code system that will be in place starting a month later on Oct. 22.

Health Minister Christine Elliott thanked the 10 million+ Ontarians who had gotten fully vaccinated so far, and added that in the week since the passport system was announced, more than 90,000 people received their first dose – an increase of 29 per cent from the previous week.

Associate Minister of Digital Government Kaleed Rasheed laid out how the passport system would work. He said that starting Sept. 22, people would need a copy of the vaccine receipt received when a person was vaccinated which could also be downloaded from Ontario's vaccine website, and either printed off or uploaded to their phone. They would also need a piece of ID to present. Then on Oct. 22, he said the province was on track to release both the enhanced certificate with QR code and the verification app for businesses. But he added, people would still be able to use the original vaccine receipt and ID if they did not wish to download the QR code.

He also advised that the QR code will eventually allow medical exemptions to be embedded, but until then people can show a written medical exemption though they acknowledged it could be subject to fraud.

Elliott also advised that once the passport system rolls out, if business employees are concerned over interactions with a customer who is not being compliant or being threatening, they can call 911, adding she did not expect too many calls about non-compliance.

The province reported 577 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. The provincial case total stood at 575,796.

For more info, please go to https://globalnews.ca/news/8189100/covid-ontario-vaccine-certificates-fines-exemptions/

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