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Did you get your vaccine in Ontario? If you’ve been fully vaccinated, you’ll be eligible to download the province’s new enhanced vaccine certificate in QR code form this weekend.
The rollout will happen over three days, and will be available for download by everyone who has been vaccinated starting Oct. 18 at 6 a.m.
When can I download my QR code?
On Friday, those born in the months of January through April can download their QR codes on the provincial site. On Saturday, those born in May to August can follow suit. And on Sunday, fall and winter babies born September to December are able to download their QR code.
How do I access my QR code?
To access the code, enter your health card information, date of birth and postal code on Ontario’s COVID-19 vaccination record site.
When you get to the next page, select ‘proof of vaccination’. Then, select ‘Download your enhanced vaccine certificate’. This should be followed by another screen pop-up that will display the QR code. The code will be labelled with your full name, date of birth and the dates of your vaccinations as well as the types of vaccines you received.
What do I do after accessing my QR code?
You can print out the QR code document if you prefer carrying it physically, but make sure not to fold or crease the QR code portion as it may become difficult to read. You can also store the code in your smartphone as a PDF by emailing it to yourself.
If you’re an iPhone user, you can save it to your Apple Health app by opening your camera and hovering over the QR code. When your phone scans the code, it’ll open up the document that you can save on your app.
How will this be used at restaurants, gyms?
The province has unveiled a new app for businesses and organizations called Verify Ontario, available for download now and intended for use in verifying COVID-19 vaccine certificate QR codes.
Unless you are a business or organization that will need such a tool to verify vaccine passports (or if you’re a nosy journalist who wants to make sure her enhanced vaccine passport QR code works properly), you do not need to download the Verify Ontario app.
The app scans the QR code on an Ontario government-issued vaccine certificate.
“After scanning a QR code, the business or organization will see: a green check mark indicating that it meets vaccine requirements, a red X for an invalid certificate, or a yellow warning indicating that the QR code cannot be read,” reads a description for the app.
What if I was vaccinated outside of Ontario?
If you received one or more of your doses of the COVID-19 vaccine outside of Ontario, the government says you must contact your local public health unit for proper documentation.
The province says that “proof of vaccination may also include a vaccination receipt from another jurisdiction that shows the holder is fully vaccinated against COVID-19.”
What about my privacy?
The province assures that the application doesn’t “request a user’s specific location, or collect any information that links specific locations, visitors, or businesses to each other” and that the only thing being tracked are the metrics that include number of scans and valid, invalid, or warning results that occur.
What if I haven’t been vaccinated?
If you aren’t vaccinated or are only partially vaccinated, Ontario says you won’t be able to enter businesses and organizations where proof of vaccination is required.
This includes indoor dining at restaurants, gyms, theatres, sports and entertainment venues and other non-essential businesses.
The same site for downloading your enhanced vaccine certificate can also be used to book your vaccine appointment.
As of Friday, more than 82 per cent of eligible Ontarians have been fully vaccinated.
Article From: The Star
Author: Ivy Mak
