Ontario vaccine passports crucial to raising COVID-19 vaccination rate: RESCON

VAUGHAN, Ont., Sept. 01, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RESCON fully supports Ontario Premier Doug Ford's announcement today to roll out the government's enhanced vaccine certificate program as it will boost the vaccination rate of all Ontario, including the construction industry.

According to Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario's chief medical officer, 90% of the province's population will need to be fully vaccinated in order to end the pandemic within six to eight months. Currently, about 76% of all eligible Ontarians are fully vaccinated.

As of Sept. 22, Ontarians must show proof of identification of immunization against the pandemic virus to be granted entry to indoor restaurants, meeting spaces and conferences, among others. For now, the rollout of the new policy involves using the vaccine receipts issued by the government. However, a mobile app is scheduled to be launched on Oct. 22 so vaccinated people can use QR codes to access services.

"During the fourth wave of the pandemic, health and safety continues to be of paramount importance," says Andrew Pariser, vice-president of RESCON and chair of the association's health and safety committee. "When COVID-19 emerged in Ontario 18 months ago, we worked quickly to understand the disease and mitigate the spread within our workforce. Keeping workers safe is always our No. 1 priority ? getting Ontarians vaccinated is the only way to end the pandemic."

RESCON president Richard Lyall added that this announcement supports Ontario's economic recovery "which residential construction will continue to lead."

"We expect that vaccination passports will increase vaccination rates across both non-essential and essential industries, in turn keeping workers safe and the economy open."

More information of the government's announcement can be found at this link.

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