Ontario to Crack Down Doubtful COVID-19 Vaccination Waivers

Queen’s Park is “cracking down” on dubious medical exemptions by beefing up Ontario’s system for obtaining evidence of COVID-19 vaccines, Star learned.

“It’s not going to be okay to have a doctor’s note; we know most of them are invalid,” a senior government official said Thursday night.

“We are cracking down on ‘valid waivers’ by putting them on the green pass system,” the source said, speaking confidentially to discuss internal deliberations.

To that end, Dr. Kieran Moore, chief medical officer for health, is expected to announce Friday that the Verify Ontario QR code system, which is now used by more than 10 million Ontarians, will be strengthened.

Individuals who have obtained a doctor’s note exempting them from receiving a COVID-19 vaccine will need to take it to a local public health unit for verification.

That information would then be included in a QR code on their phone so that they can only access services like restaurants, theaters, or sports stadiums with a valid exemption.

“We’ve seen the same doctors grant waivers to everyone who asks,” the official said, noting that the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons has been prohibiting some doctors from issuing waivers for vaccines or masks.

It is not known how many potentially invalid exemption letters are circulating.

Moore will also confirm what Health Minister Christine Elliott said Monday: The proof of vaccination QR code tentatively scheduled to begin being removed on January 17 will continue to be used indefinitely.

That’s due to a recent spike in cases of the Delta variant of COVID-19 and the arrival of the more contagious Omicron variant.

Despite rumors circulating on Twitter that annoyed parents and students alike, Moore will not close schools early for the Christmas break or extend the vacation into January.

It had been considered to do so to allow more children to get vaccinated next week, but public health officials rejected that idea.

Ontario will also not lower the age threshold for COVID-19 booster injections to 18, as has been speculated on social media.

The province is sticking to a plan to extend reinforcements for those over 50, which begins Monday.

That’s because few, if any, young adults have reached the recommended mark of 168 days since their second chance, another senior official said.

They will be able to get them in the new year, while people over the age of 50 are at higher risk of catching the virus.

The changes come as Ontario hit a six-month high with 1,290 new COVID-19 infections reported Thursday.

Moore will also announce some other “adjustments” to public health measures, but nothing that affects schools or businesses.

That means there is no widespread lowering of capacity limits, as has been rumored.

Three health units in the London area issued a joint statement urging residents to work from home if possible and to limit the number of people they invite into their homes after more than 200 outbreaks in the region in the past week.

“It is time to reduce transmission opportunities before our healthcare system is overwhelmed,” said the joint statement from the Middlesex-London, Huron-Perth and Southwestern (Woodstock and St. Thomas area) health units. .

They asked residents to hold indoor home meetings for a maximum of 10 people (the provincial limit is 25), and for anyone over 12 to be vaccinated. Children 12 years and older who are not vaccinated “should avoid any non-essential indoor contact with people who are not part of their home,” the health units said in a joint statement.

Moore and Prime Minister Doug Ford have repeatedly said they prefer a regional approach targeting pandemic restrictions rather than a single province-wide strategy.

Robert Benzie is the bureau chief for Star’s Queen’s Park and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie