File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By James Peters

COVID-19

B.C. to require proof of COVID-19 vaccination for activities such as restaurant dining, sporting events beginning Sept. 13

Aug 23, 2021 | 1:35 PM

VICTORIA — Beginning Sept. 13, B.C. will bar unvaccinated citizens from taking part in certain non-essential activities, such as dining at restaurants or attending ticketed sporting events.

In a news conference Monday (Aug. 23), Premier John Horgan, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix unveiled a vaccine passport program.

Vaccinated individuals will be able to obtain a proof of vaccination — either a physical card or a downloadable proof — from the province before Sept. 13.

“It is a confidential system that will allow you to download onto your phone the card that indicates whether you are partially vaccinated, fully vaccinated or unvaccinated, and businesses will be required to look for your vaccination card and your proof of identification — as we do for many other things,” Henry told reporters.

At the beginning of the program, citizens will only need proof of a single dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and will need proof of a second dose by Oct. 24.

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The B.C. vaccine card will apply to the following settings:

• indoor ticketed sporting events
• indoor concerts
• indoor theatre/dance/symphony events
• restaurants (indoor and patio dining)
• night clubs
• casinos
• movie theatres
• fitness centres/gyms (excluding youth recreational sport)
• businesses offering indoor high-intensity group exercise activities
• organized indoor events (eg. weddings, parties, conferences, meetings, workshops)
• discretionary organized indoor group recreational classes and activities

“Ticketed sporting events, indoor concerts, movies – wherever there is [discretionary] activity that you can go to with the confidence that those around you have also taken steps to protect themselves and their families — the B.C. vaccine card will help us get there,” said Horgan.

While the province promises the program will be in place by Sept. 13, Interior Health residents may be able to download their proofs of vaccination before the rest of the province. Henry enacted tighter restrictions across Interior Health last Friday (Aug. 20) due to increased COVID-19 spread in the region.

“We’ll be having discussions about whether we can put some of these measures in place sooner rather than later,” said Henry. “We may use it as an opportunity to test the vaccine card initiative… and, yes, that should allow us to have some of these gatherings and events happening more safely in those areas where we already have higher transmission.”

“This is a temporary measure that’s getting us through a risky period, when we know that people who are unvaccinated are at risk of both contracting and spreading this virus. If there are those rare people who have a medical reason why they can’t be immunized, these are discretionary events that we’re talking about.”

Unvaccinated people represent a shrinking portion of B.C. residents, but continue to dominate new cases and hospitalizations, with Henry reporting 90 per cent of all new cases since the beginning of the month and 93 per cent of hospitalizations among those who have had fewer than two doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

Provincial officials also noted it is all but assured B.C. will not move to Step Four of its restart plan, lifting nearly all restrictions, but the earliest target date of Sept. 7.