It’s a new sign of the times.
Ontario residents were able to begin downloading their enhanced proof-of-vaccination certificates with a secure QR code on Friday.
Only people born from January to April were allowed to download the new vaccine receipt on the first day.
So many were trying to access the Ministry of Health website at the same time that it briefly crashed.
Those with birthdays from May to August can download the app as of Saturday and people born from September to December can do so Sunday.
As of Monday, everyone can access the portal.
“To ensure a smooth user experience, the province is initially making the enhanced vaccine certificate with scannable QR code available for download in cohorts based on an individual’s birth month over a period of three days,” according to the Ministry of Health.
“You can also call the Provincial Vaccine Contact Centre at 1-833-943-3900 to have your enhanced vaccine certificate emailed or mailed to you,” the ministry said.
“You’ll need your proof of COVID-19 vaccination to access certain businesses and settings,” it added, noting the QR code replaces the existing receipt that came into effect on Sept. 22.
Either screenshots of the QR code on your iPhone, iPad, and Android device or paper printouts can be scanned for verification. Public libraries are offering free printing services for those who don’t have computer printers.
The health ministry said only those with green photo health cards can use the website, but expired cards are accepted.
Those with the old red and white OHIP cards that don’t have a photograph or embedded information should phone the vaccine contact centre.
Officials told reporters that the new QR code contains safeguards to protect Ontarians’ personal private health care information.
It is more sophisticated that the grassroots QR codes that many people have already downloaded and now store in their Apple Wallets in their iPhones.
Premier Doug Ford is holding a news conference at 11 a.m. Friday at Queen’s Park with Dr. Kieran Moore, the chief medical officer of health, to further discuss the new Verify Ontario system for proof of vaccination against COVID-19.
The verification application, which is available for businesses to download for free on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store, will enable them to scan Ontarians’ QR vaccination codes as of Oct. 22.
“To ensure the app was available to businesses and organizations in real time tomorrow, the verification app was added to app stores today,” Ford’s office said Thursday.
The grassroots QR codes are not official government documents and cannot be scanned by the Verify Ontario app.
But the government’s QR code can’t yet be stored in an iPhone’s Apple Wallet or the Android Wallet though the province is working with Apple and Google to make that possible.
Here’s how to download Ontario’s new enhanced COVID-19 vaccine passport QR code
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“The (current) iOS is not compatible with the health card standard in any jurisdiction so Apple is going to address this in its next software update,” an official said.
Moore said Thursday that Ontarians should expect a “phased exit” from the vaccine passport system sometime next year if COVID-19 data remains encouraging.
The top doctors added that lifting of customer limits in restaurants and gyms will be “slow, gradual and cautious.”
That’s despite the abrupt removal of capacity limits on major sporting venues, concert halls, and theatres last weekend.
“We will not be doing this suddenly.”
Some 87.3 per cent of eligible Ontarians 12 and up have had one shot and 82.8 per cent are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, which has killed more than 9,800 people in the province since the pandemic struck in March 2020.
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