COVID-19 vaccine passports can be reviewed, but experts caution against dropping them

Vaccinated people remain less likely to spread COVID-19 because they're less likely to become sick in the first place, experts say.

As several provinces toy with scrapping their COVID-19 vaccine mandates, medical experts allow it may be time to start reconsidering the policy _ but caution against dropping the measure too soon.

Prevalence of cases among both vaccinated and unvaccinated Canadians has led to calls to nix the vaccine passport system by some who question whether the shots make a difference in transmission.

However, Fahad Razak, an epidemiologist and health policy expert with the University of Toronto, said discarding the policy while hospitalizations are just starting to ease in parts of the country is “premature.”

He suggested a “buffer” of several weeks before tossing vaccine passports to help ensure the Omicron variant doesn’t cause another rapid spike that could overwhelm a health-care system still precariously dealing with elevated hospital and intensive care admissions, cancelled surgeries and staffing shortages.

“There may be a future time where relaxation is reasonable but … we’re not exactly sure what will happen when you change these policies,” Razak said, adding that Ontario is currently seeing peak levels of daily COVID-19 deaths.

“Do it at a time when there is capacity for the system to respond appropriately if there is a rise in cases.”

Ontario’s top doctor Kieran Moore said Thursday the province needs to “reassess the value” of its vaccine passport system, noting two doses no longer seem to significantly limit the spread of Omicron.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said earlier this week the vaccination requirement there had “run its course” while Alberta Premier Jason Kenney is expected to announce a firm date next week to scrap his province’s passport system, a move he said is likely to happen in the “very near future.”