Why vaccine passports may be an important tool in boosting vaccination rates

This week, Quebec's government began enforcing its vaccine passport, an electronic record in the form of a quick response (QR) code. B.C. launched its own earlier this month and other provinces plan to soon roll out their own programs. 

The passports contain proof that a person has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, allowing them to participate in some indoor recreational activities. But apart from that, what do they accomplish, and how effective are they? CBC News spoke to some experts.

One of the most important goals is to increase vaccine uptake, experts say.

And that's particularly important at this stage of Canada's vaccine campaign, where the number of people getting double dosed has "slowed considerably," said Dr. Nazeem Muhajarine, professor of community health and epidemiology at the University of Saskatchewan.

"The point is to get us to that herd immunity, a clear majority, 85 to 90 per cent of the population fully vaccinated," he said. "We are not there yet."

Another significant objective is to prevent unvaccinated people from entering potential super-spreading environments, said epidemiologist Raywat Deonandan, an associate professor at the University of Ottawa.

"We know this disease explodes when susceptible people are in indoor environments. Who are susceptible? People who are not immune," he said.