The Region of Waterloo is asking the provincial and federal governments to “take a consistent and coordinated approach to proof of vaccination for residents” as a fourth wave looms.
“We find ourselves at a most critical crossroads in the ongoing timeline of how we push back against this pandemic,” said Regional Chair Karen Redman, in a news release calling for the implementation of vaccine passports.
“Throughout the summer, I have consistently heard from residents and businesses that we now need a clear and coordinated path forward to protect these gains. On behalf of these voices, the Region’s ask is clear: for both levels of government to take a consistent and coordinated approach to proof of vaccination.”
Redman said the coordinated approach will remove pressure from employers, businesses, event venues and individuals to make their own decisions about how they manage the health risks posed by unvaccinated individuals.
A fragmented approach, she said, “will only add to the confusion within the community and prolong the impact of further COVID-19 waves.”
“Businesses and residents deserve and need this leadership from the Provincial and Federal governments,” she said in the release. “We are in this together, and in order to move beyond COVID-19, we must move together.”
The move comes following discussion on the topic of vaccine passports at Tuesday’s committee of the whole meeting, where councillors were unanimous in wanting to see action from the province.
“Almost every business group is asking for vaccine passports as a way to avoid a further lockdown,” regional councillor Tom Galloway told the committee.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce recently voiced its support for proof of vaccination to prevent further lockdowns.
The region’s medical officer of health, Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, said a recent letter sent to the province from the Association of Local Public Health Agencies of Ontario calls on the province to impose policies for vaccine certificates.
Galloway expressed frustration at a lack of movement at the provincial level to impose mandatory vaccinations for healthcare workers and education workers; a move that bucks a trend seen across the globe of making vaccinations and testing mandatory among these groups.
“Various groups are advocating for that to no avail,” he said.
"It just seems to me in the polling it’s just overwhelming in support of vaccine passports. It’s not even a close call,” Galloway said. “I just hope the provincial government is hearing all these voices.
“If we want to avoid another lockdown, certainly this is one of the tools in the toolbox that we have.”
Councillor Sean Strickland agreed, asking the region to formally make the request to the province.
“We’re in a new phase of the pandemic and I think it’s been accurately described as a pandemic of the unvaccinated.”
“When you weigh the fact that the majority of the population is the vaccinated and at risk from the minority of the population, mandatory vaccination passports make sense,” he said.
“If we really are going to get out of this to the 90 per cent threshold the only way we’re going to do it is vaccine passports.”
Strickland went on to suggest the Region of Waterloo should make vaccinations mandatory for its 5,000 employees, or at the very least make those unwilling to provide proof of vaccination subject to twice weekly tests.
“We have a responsibility as an employer," he said.