No data suggesting vaccine passports work, says Theresa Tam

The Canadian Press / Adrian Wyld

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Canada's chief public health officer has revealed there is no statistical evidence demonstrating that vaccine passports work to boost vaccination rates. Tam, speaking to reporters, said that the proof of vaccination system currently being implemented in Manitoba, Quebec, British Columbia and Ontario has not been studied by the country's public health agency.

According to a report from Blacklock's Reporter, Tam answered a question from a journalist about whether she thought vaccine mandates or passports had any impact on boosting vaccination rates. “We are watching carefully,” Tam replied.

“We don't have good evaluation or statistics except that provinces individually have said, I think in the media, that they saw an increase in uptake,” Tam explained.

Regarding what tools do work for increasing uptake, Tam told the reporter that “some of it is just trust building, getting influencers, youth influencers, people who can get to social media, TikTok in particular,” while also encouraging local health units to run mobile clinics at workplaces.

“What I'm interested in is an actual study of course of the full range of approaches,” said Tam before returning to the previous question about passports and mandates, adding that any potential benefit of these measures “remains to be seen.”

Statistics from the Public Health Agency of Canada show that in the four provinces with current or pending vaccine passport plans, 69 per cent of eligible residents are fully vaccinated. In contrast, 67 per cent of those eligible are fully vaccinated in provinces without mandates.

“It's something we should pay close attention to and study,” Tam stated.