VANCOUVER -- When British Columbians get the COVID-19 vaccine, they’ll receive proof of immunization, in the form of a paper hard copy and access to a digital record.
Speaking at her coronavirus briefing on Thursday, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said some of the details are still being worked out, including how to "get the information quickly into that registry, and get information out of that registry so you can have access to your immunization record electronically."
While some countries have required proof of certain vaccinations before allowing Canadians travellers to enter, questions are now being raised about whether businesses might do the same.
“What we are having now is the discussion about using it for access to all kinds of things, whether it’s sporting venues, music venues, places of religious worship,” said Francoise Baylis, a research professor in bioethics at Dalhousie University.
Vancouver tech company Tevano Systems is interested in designing the digital vaccine passport.
“What we see evolving is a government-sponsored program where there is a database that has all the government securities put into place, and companies such as ours can provide the hardware and the software be able to link it to that, observing all the privacy, and be able to offer that to customers that wish to participate,” said Tevano CEO David Bajwa.
But it’s unclear if the law will allow private companies to require customers show proof of vaccination.
“Legislation is going to need to be in place in terms of what kinds of asks, if you will, are off limits,” said Baylis. She believes it would only be important during a short window, before the vaccine is widely available to everyone and herd immunity is reached.
“That’s the only time I can actually even see this being really a reasonable thing to think about,” she said. “Once you get to herd immunity it will be very difficult to justify any kind of demand.”
Dr. Henry said the vaccine registry serves a much bigger purpose than giving British Columbians a digital record they can show to businesses who ask to see it.
“We need to record who gets what, down to the lot number, so if there’s a safety signal or for some reason we need to know who had which vaccine, we are able to follow up with people,” she said.
