The province has officially launched the NLVaxPass and NLVaxVerify apps for the vaccine passport.
Two weeks from today the vaccine passport system will come into full effect, restricting unvaccinated people from attending non-essential businesses and events, but many are wondering what that will mean for the employees of those businesses.
Premier Andrew Furey addressed unvaccinated employees working at businesses where they are now required. He hopes that “forward facing businesses” and their employees have been encouraging vaccines and that such situations should be limited.
He says for those employees who are unvaccinated there will be a grace period of up to December 1, which he says is similar to what will be announced next week for public employees.
Meanwhile, as the vaccine passports roll out, some businesses have expressed concerns about their frontline workers being tasked with enforcement.
The minister of Digital Government and Service NL, Sarah Stoodley, says the app will show each person if they meet public health criteria, hopefully cutting down on the number of people trying to enter businesses.
Furey says they recognize the anxiety the system may cause for frontline workers.
Will the system be a little disruptive? The Premier says yes. Furey says everything is disruptive right now and he is confident that the system will work.
The provincial government says the ID requirements that accompany the vaccine passport are relatively flexible.
To gain access to a business, a person must also present a form of ID to confirm that the QR code actually belongs to them.
For children and teenagers between 12 and 18, an MCP card or birth certificate will suffice.
Premier Andrew Furey says original copies will not be required either. Children can use a picture or a photo copy of the document.
For adults, a picture ID is required. But, as Minister of Digital Government and Service NL Sarah Stoodley explains those requirements are also flexible.
She says an expired ID is acceptable as they are only using it to make sure a person’s name and photo match.
According to Stoodley, adults who do not have any sort of photo ID are encouraged to reach out to the department and arrangements will be made for them to get one.
The province is urging people to treat their personal QR codes for the vaccine passport the same as they would any other piece of personal information and keep it as private as possible.
Government has launched the NLVaxPass and NLVaxVerify apps for use with the documents.
They are urging that the codes not be shared and say only the official government apps be used to store and read the codes.
Those apps, they say, are safe and personal information isn’t uploaded or sent anywhere.
However, the concern comes from any other apps that are able to read the codes.
Minister of Digital Government and Service NL Sarah Stoodley explains that the QR codes for the passport are very sophisticated and contain a key specific to this province that protects the information.
She says malicious apps shouldn’t be able to read the codes, but to be safe people shouldn’t share them and businesses should only use government’s app to read them.
Here’s how to get your QR code. There will also be a Phone number available for those without access to a printer to have their code mailed to them@VOCMNEWSpic.twitter.com/LRsgdrOjHC
VANCOUVER – Mayors and other leaders from several British Columbia communities say the provincial and federal governments need to take “immediate action” to tackle mental health and public safety issues that have reached crisis levels.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim says it’s become “abundantly clear” that mental health and addiction issues and public safety have caused crises that are “gripping” Vancouver, and he and other politicians, First Nations leaders and law enforcement officials are pleading for federal and provincial help.
In a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier David Eby, mayors say there are “three critical fronts” that require action including “mandatory care” for people with severe mental health and addiction issues.
The letter says senior governments also need to bring in “meaningful bail reform” for repeat offenders, and the federal government must improve policing at Metro Vancouver ports to stop illicit drugs from coming in and stolen vehicles from being exported.
Sim says the “current system” has failed British Columbians, and the number of people dealing with severe mental health and addiction issues due to lack of proper care has “reached a critical point.”
Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer says repeat violent offenders are too often released on bail due to a “revolving door of justice,” and a new approach is needed to deal with mentally ill people who “pose a serious and immediate danger to themselves and others.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
