Canada | Ontario vaccination
Ontario's COVID-19 vaccine certificate available for download during next 3 days
Ottawa/IBNS: COVID-19 vaccine certificate QR codes for download are being made available by the government of Ontario in Canada during the next three days starting Friday morning.
Fully vaccinated Ontarians born between January and April were able to download their QR code as of 6 a.m. ET on Friday, those born between May to Aug on Oct. 16, and between Sep to Dec on Oct 17.
On Thursday afternoon, the province's vaccine verification app for businesses, Verify Ontario, went live online on the Google and Apple app stores.
The app enables businesses and organizations to scan the QR codes on provincially issued digital vaccine certificates. A green checkmark will appear after the code is scanned indicating a valid vaccine certificate, a red X would appear for or an invalid certificate, and a yellow warning for a QR that cannot be read.
An update to the Ontario Health site last night said that the three-day rollout is intended to ensure a "smooth user experience."
The update also said that on Oct 18 all fully vaccinated Ontarians would be able to download enhanced vaccine certificates.
Approximately 83.2 percent of eligible Ontarians have now had two doses of vaccine.
Besides making the process of checking vaccination statuses more efficient for businesses the purpose of the QR code system is more secure for the public, said officials during a briefing for the media this morning.
"They mean we can allow businesses the comfort to keep operating safely. They mean we can continue to get back to doing things we want without losing the gains we've made," Ontario Premier Doug Ford said today in a morning news conference.
"The objective is to avoid future lockdowns."
The province says the QR codes will reveal less personal information than the current vaccine receipts do.
The QR codes include a person's name, date of birth, and confirms if they have received two doses of vaccine, with their last shot at least 14 days prior.
That information regarding the brand or brands of vaccine received by a person, or the specific dates of their shots are included on the enhanced certificates but are not transmitted through the QR codes.
(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)
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