NB Premier Blaine Higgs (Photo: Government of New Brunswick YouTube)
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs says there is no urgency in the province at this point for vaccine passports.
He confirms they have asked Public Health to look into them and the issue will also be discussed with cabinet in the coming weeks.
But Blaine Higgs says our province is not in the same state as Quebec or Ontario is right now, with the number of cases and hospitalizations, “Their outbreak of cases, and their intensity of population is very different than ours. So, it’s not an example of their doing it, we’re doing it. It’s a process of asking what is it going to take for us to do it. How does it interface with other apps, or other identification, is it a standardized policy? The federal government is pushing for standardized policy. So when we put it into place, we do it right. I think it likely will come, but there is not a sense of urgency here. If there was a sense of urgency then we would be reacting today.”
He adds, “Could it happen like Quebec? It could. Is there a likelihood given our current path? Well I’d like to say that it would look like that is not going to be a requirement, but the Delta variant is there and there is always going to be a concern. We’re opening up more, we’re going back to school, and that’s why the protocols in schools is going to be important. That’s why vaccination rates continue to be important.”
He says they are looking at what it will take to have a vaccine passport, but he does expect eventually if New Brunswickers want to travel outside of the province, it will be necessary, “The federal government is pushing for vaccine passports.. We want to harmonize that and make it compatible with a national kind of recognition, and I think that is where it will evolve. I think if it gets down to asking, are we restricted in travelling? Quebec put theirs in place to get people vaccinated. BC has done the same thing, so yes if we are short and not meeting increased levels of vaccination, then we may have to do it. If it comes to mobility issues that our residents cannot travel to other provinces, then they will want some kind of identification that is recognized in other provinces. So right now, we are looking at what it would take to have our own registration that would be acceptable. It would be online and we would be able to show it on our smartphone, and it would be to ensure people can move freely within our country.”
As for businesses, Higgs says they would have a choice, “If we introduce this, they would have a choice to ask for verification of a vaccine. We want to be in a position where we are clear of what the provincial requirements are and give people who are comfortable in one manner or another the flexibility.”
