Board of health calls on Ottawa's top doc, province to talk 3-dose passport

Ottawa's Board of Health is calling on the city's top doctor to talk to the provincial government about possibly requiring Ontarians to have a booster shot to enter a range of indoor establishments.

The 11-member board, made up of city councillors and civilians, held a special virtual meeting on Monday to hear from Dr. Vera Etches, Ottawa's medical officer of health, about the latest key indicators of the Omicron COVID-19 surge.

Early in the meeting, Knoxdale-Merivale Coun. Keith Egli signalled he was fronting a motion asking Etches to "work with the province to emphasize a cautious approach to reopening....in particular whether to include the requirement for people 18 years of age or older to show proof of a third, or booster, dose."

The motion carried unanimously. 

Egli said his intention is to promote discussion as Ontario moves to relax some restrictions on Jan. 31.

"I think everybody wants the reopening to be as sustainable as possible," he said. "Nobody wants to close businesses again. Nobody wants to close schools again. People want to see their families again."

'Need to think about all of the levers'

Etches said she agreed more discussion on the notion of a triple-dose passport is needed. 

"I think there are reasons for the proof of vaccination for certain certain organizations, certain public settings," she said.

The passport system helped to increase uptake of first and second vaccine doses, Etches added.

"We need to think about all of the levers to increase the protection in our population [and] grow the number of people that have a third dose."

Last week medical officers of health for Renfrew County and Eastern Ontario Health Units expressed their support for a three-dose passport system. 

A second motion passed by the Board of Health called on Etches and board chair Egli to recommend a host of other steps to Premier Doug Ford, including:

• Expanding access to COVID-19 PCR testing to people living in the same home as all "forward-facing healthcare workers and daycare/childcare workers."
• Creating a regular supply of rapid antigen tests for children and workers in schools.
• Moving toward offering free masks to lower-income people.

This motion, which was proposed by Capital Coun. Shawn Menard, also re-upped a February 2021 request for the province to provide enough funding to give all Ontario workers no less than 10 COVID-19 paid sick days a year.