Ontario's vaccine passport: What you need to know
CBC
A COVID-19 vaccine passport system kicks in Wednesday in Ontario, requiring people to show proof of vaccination for entry into thousands of non-essential venues across the province.
Restaurants, bars, sports venues, gyms, theatres, cinemas and casinos are among the locations where staff must ask patrons to show certification that they received two doses of an approved vaccine at least two weeks before, along with identification that matches their vaccination document.
Here's what you need to know about how Ontario's vaccine passport system will work:
Ontarians can download their proof of vaccination from this provincial government website. You need your OHIP card to log in to the site. Once you download the certificate showing you've had two doses of vaccine, you can either print a hard copy or store the PDF on your phone.
Vaccination receipts from jurisdictions outside Ontario are accepted, provided that the vaccines doses received meet the province's definition of fully vaccinated. If any of the doses received were not among Health Canada's four approved vaccines (Pfizer-BioNtech, Moderna, AstraZeneca/COVISHIELD or Janssen/Johnson & Johnson), Ontario requires two doses to be considered fully vaccinated, or a follow-up with one dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna mRNA vaccines.
Along with the paper or digital copy of your vaccination certificate, you are required to show government-issued identification with your name and date of birth, matching what's on the proof of vaccination document. It does not have to be photo ID.
You can use your OHIP card as identification but the venue staff do not have the right to demand to see your health card as part of your proof of vaccination.
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