Ontario keeping vaccine passports through winter, top doctor says
Ontario's top doctor says proof-of-vaccine certificates will be in place through the winter with modelling showing the potential for a "significant rise" in COVID-19 cases after the holidays.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore made the comment on Friday while announcing an easing of capacity restrictions for some outdoor and indoor settings.
"I do think they are going to be with us for the fall and winter at a minimum," Moore said. "I have seen modelling where we have a significant rise in January and February after the Christmas holidays. That is disconcerting."
Moore said he hopes Ontario can reach a 90 per cent rate of vaccination as quickly as possible, which is target the government says is needed to significantly slow transmission.
"I think once we get that high a rate, and there will be others that have natural immunity, that will definitely slow the virus down,” Moore said. "As we see the virus slowing downing and not able to impact our health sector … I think we’ll slowly pull back on all public health measures over time. But we'll do it stepped manner."
Ontario's vaccine certificate program came into effect on Wednesday. It requires proof of vaccination for many non-essential settings.
Premier Doug Ford said the vaccine certificate program is the province’s best chance at avoiding further lockdowns.
"We need to do everything in our power to avoid future lockdowns and closures. That is why we are bringing in these exceptional measures on a temporary basis and will end them as soon as they can be responsibly removed."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.