While getting the COVID-19 vaccine will not be mandatory in Ontario, Health Minister Christine Elliott said the government will be issuing some form of documentation to those who receive it. And this vaccination documentation information could become necessary in a variety of situations.
“That will be very important for people to have, for travel purposes and perhaps work purposes or going to theatres or cinemas or any other places where people will be in close physical contact when we get through the worst of the pandemic,” said Health Minister Christine Elliott on Tuesday.
“So yes, that will be essential for people to have that,” she added.
This means that people who refuse to be vaccinated could be barred from some activities.
The first phase of the Ontario’s distribution plan, Retired Gen. Rick Hillier, the chair of the province’s COVID-19 vaccine task force said, will span two to three months. It will focus on inoculating health care workers, residents, staff, essential caregivers, and other employees of congregate living settings that provide care for seniors, adults in Indigenous communities and adult recipients of chronic home health care.
The province said it is expected that the second phase of the distribution plan will commence in April with a goal of ensuring every Ontarian who wants the vaccine can receive it.
The third and final phase will essentially turn the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine into one similar to the system that distributes flu shots using pharmacies, physician’s offices, and public health units.
Ontario expects to receive a combined 2.4 million doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in the first three months of 2021, enough to provide 1.2 million residents with the required two doses of the vaccine.
The province has said that long-term care residents should be among the first people in Ontario to be immunized but on Monday, officials cast doubt on whether that will be feasible at first on account of the challenges associated with moving the Pfizer vaccine. The manufacturer has indicated that too much movement of the shots could degrade the quality of the vaccine, which must be stored in ultra-cold freezers at a temperature of -80 C.
This prompted Hillier to say that the province may first have to vaccinate people at large vaccination centres until the Moderna vaccine arrives in Canada.
