As of Monday, people in B.C. who want to visit restaurants, pubs, nightclubs, casinos, theatres, gyms, postsecondary student housing, indoor concerts or sporting events, indoor adult team sports (as participants), or any indoor gatherings with 50 or more people in the province will be required to proof they have received COVID-19 vaccine.
The new health order requires each patron of those establishments to show they have received at least one dose as of Monday and by Oct. 24 the order will require them to have been fully vaccinated with two doses. The order is in place at least until Jan. 31, 2022 and could be extended.
Proof of vaccination is available through the government website https://www2.gov.bc.ca/vaccinecard.htm. The site instructs how to download a copy of the QR code which contains personal vaccination information. The QR codes can either be printed out or retained on cell phones to show proof of vaccine at the restricted establishments. One piece of government identification, such as a driver’s licence, BC Care Card, passport or out-of-province ID, will also be required.
The new requirement applies to all people born in 2009 or earlier (12 and older).
Proof of vaccine is not required for in-person voting or advance polling for the Sept. 20 federal election. Other place where you don’t have to show proof of vaccine include:
- Grocery stores, liquor stores and pharmacies;
- Unlicensed restaurants that don't offer table service, like fast food, coffee shops and takeout;
- Local public transportation (BC Transit, TransLink, BC Ferries);
- Salons, hairdressers, barbers;
- Hotels, resorts, pools, cabins and campsites
- Unless it is a setting or event covered by the PHO order. For example a licensed hotel restaurant, wedding reception or conference;
- Banks and credit unions;
- Retail and clothing stores;
- Public libraries;
- Food banks and shelters;
- Escape rooms, laser tag, indoor paint ball, arcades and bowling alleys (if they are unlicensed or don't offer table service);
- Post-secondary on-campus cafeterias.
Events that are excluded from the new vaccine order are:
- Worship services;
- Indoor youth recreational sport for people 19 years or younger;
- Before and after school programs for kindergarten- Grade 12 students;
- Student events and activities in K -12 public and independent schools;
- Indoor organized events with less than 50 people, except adult sports.
To give people time to get their BC Vaccine Card, the province is allowing other forms of proof of vaccine up to and including Sept.26. Those other forms include:
- Wallet-sized immunization record card(given out at vaccine clinics);
- Printed immunization record from Health Gateway;
- Immunization record from a pharmacy (AstraZeneca/SII COVISHIELD);
- National Defence Canada COVID-19 vaccine record or card;
- Provincial Immunization Registry record;
- Health authority immunization records.
