Vaccine passport won’t apply to retail businesses in Kahnawake
Written by Paul Graif on 13 August 2021
Public health officials in Kahnawake have released details on how the vaccine passport system will be used in the community. Proof of vaccination will be needed as of September 1st and won’t apply to retail businesses or essential services. Businesses that will be impacted will be contacted shortly. The passport is only available to individuals who have received both vaccines or who have had COVID 19 and one dose of the vaccine.
Officials say the measure is in the best interest of the health and safety of the community and will help control the spread of the virus.
“Although this Vaccine Passport is a Quebec initiative, it’s important that we do the same in Kahnawà:ke, to be applied to both community members and non-locals,’” said Lloyd Phillips, Commissioner of Public Safety. “We don’t want to create a situation where a large number of unvaccinated people come to Kahnawake attempting to get around Quebec rules, as this would put our community at an unnecessary increased risk. We witnessed and learned from a similar situation during Quebec’s lockdown of Montreal and Laval. People from Red Zones were traveling to Orange and Yellow Zones to shop and eat in restaurants, which led to a province-wide lockdown of all non-essential businesses.”
Phillips says the passport is temporary and could prevent the need for stricter measures or shutdowns if the situation gets worse.
