Ontario residents will receive proof for taking COVID-19 vaccine, health minister says

TORONTO — Ontario’s Health Minister says plans are in the works to provide documentation for residents who receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

During a news conference on Thursday, Christine Elliott confirmed that Ontario residents will receive some sort of proof when they receive their first and second dose of the vaccine but the government is still “finalizing the format.”

“People will receive a confirmation of the vaccination when they receive their first dose, they will get a receipt indicating they had their first dose. When they get the second dose they will receive confirmation, we are just finalizing the format it is going to take,” she said.

Elliott said the government knows that residents will need the confirmation for various reasons, including for work and travel.

She added that proof following the second dose of the vaccine will be “more substantive” but did not provide details on what this form of confirmation will look like.

“People will receive a receipt when they receive their first dose and then upon the second dose once it has been completed they will receive something more substantive because many people will need it for lots of reasons,” Elliott said.

Health-care professionals in Toronto and Ottawa started receiving the first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, shortly after the vaccines arrived in the country from Europe.

Health Canada approved the vaccine last week.

The University Health Network in Toronto and The Ottawa Hospital are the first two sites under the province’s pilot project to receive and administer the vaccines.

Both sites received 3,000 does each but are only administering half of that amount to ensure the vaccinated patients receive the required second dose 21 days later in case of delays to future shipments of vaccine doses.

The government said it expects to receive 90,000 more doses of Pfizer’s vaccine by the end of December which will be delivered to up to 17 hospital sites in COVID-19 hot spots across the province.