Ontario rolls out vaccine mobile app and QR code: What Windsor-Essex residents need to know
Windsor-Essex residents can download a QR code to prove their COVID-19 vaccination status at non-essential businesses.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford released details of the province’s new enhanced vaccine certificate with official QR code and the free Verify Ontario app, which became available for download in the Apple app store and Google Play on Friday.
Here’s the highlights of what you need to know:
- The Enhanced Vaccine Certificate will include a QR code for business owners to scan for entry
- Residents can download theirs by birthday cohorts
- Jan.-April can download Oct. 15, May-Aug. can download Oct. 16 and Sept.-Dec. can download Oct. 17
- Anyone can download it as of Oct. 18 regardless of birthday
- “Verify Ontario” app was ready to be downloaded by business owners Oct. 14
- Vaccine receipts will no longer be issued at time of immunization but previously issued receipts are still an acceptable form of proof
- Patrons must still show ID to verify their name and date of birth, along with the Enhanced Vaccine Certificate or old vaccine receipt
- Officials say the QR scan does not retain personal information after being scanned at a business
- Application works with iOS 11 on mobile devices issued as far back as 2014
- The application is not mandatory, businesses that do not use it can still use the Enhanced Vaccine Certificate or receipt, along with identification to verify vaccinations.
- “Digital first doesn’t mean digital only,” said Kaleed Rasheed, associate minister of Digital Government. People can save the electronic version of their vaccine certificate with a QR code to their phone or print a paper copy. Businesses must accept both electronic and paper versions.
- Application doesn’t require an internet connection to work."It can work offline, without an internet connection but like with any app it will need to connect to the internet periodically to keep it up to date," said Rasheed.
- Businesses will get one of three check marks:
- Green: means the person is fully vaccinated and can enter once their name and DOB is confirmed
- Red: if the person is partially vaccinated or 14 days from second dose have not passed
- Yellow: if the QR code couldn’t be read or the document is from a third-party issuer and couldn’t be verified
- The app has been made available in advance to ensure businesses and organizations download the app and have sufficient time to become familiar with it. That's a week earlier than their Oct. 22 deadline to roll out the app.
With files from CTV Windsor's Melanie Borrelli.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.