Vaccine Passports are Coming to Alberta

With Wednesday’s 475 new COVID-19 cases Saskatchewan has now reached the milestone of having recorded more than 60,000 cases of the virus since the beginning of the pandemic. Premier Scott Moe and the province’s Chief Medical Health Officer will hold a news conference this afternoon (thurs) in Saskatoon at 2 p.m. It is described as providing a COVID-19 update. Meanwhile, Alberta has declared a state of public emergency. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney apologized yesterday for making the decision to move from a pandemic to an endemic approach. At the end of July the Saskatchewan government announced it was ceasing daily COVID-19 updates as the virus “moves from pandemic to endemic.”

Kenney said that if the government doesn’t take action, Alberta hospitals may run out of staff and intensive care beds within the next 10 days. There are reports that patients are being airlifted out of Red Deer to Calgary and Edmonton because of lack of staff. New measures introduced in Alberta include requiring proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test in order to gain entry to businesses and social events that apply for an exemption under the program. There are restrictions on restaurants, indoor gatherings, weddings and funerals, retail, entertainment venues, and indoor sport and fitness.

Some highlights of new measures regarding the vaccine passport program in Alberta are below and the full list of changes can be found here.

Business Requirements:

Businesses that implement the Restrictions Exemption Program can operate as usual if they only serve people (ages 12 and over) who have:

proof of vaccination
- single dose accepted between September 20 and October 25 if received 2 weeks before time of service
- double doses required after October 25
documentation of a medical exemption
proof of a privately-paid negative PCR or rapid test within 72 hours of service (tests from AHS or Alberta Precision Laboratories not allowed)

Businesses do not need to apply for the program. Audits and enforcement will occur to ensure rules are followed.

The Restriction Exemption Program would not apply to:

businesses or entities that need to be accessed for daily living
employees of businesses participating in the program
children under 12

Proof of negative test:

To enter spaces participating in the Restrictions Exemption Program, people aged 12 and older can show proof of a negative test result.
- Tests must be privately-paid COVID-19 PCR or rapid tests completed within 72 hours.
- Tests must not be from Alberta Health Services or Alberta Precision Laboratories.
Proof of Vaccination:
To enter spaces participating in the Restrictions Exemption Program, people ages 12 and older can provide proof of vaccination or documentation of a medical exemption.
- Sept. 20 to Oct. 25: proof of a single dose is considered acceptable as long as the dose was given more than 2 weeks before the time of service.
- After Oct. 25: proof of double vaccination is required.

Vaccine Passports are Coming to Alberta

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