After announcing in August that the city would require people to provide proof of vaccination to enter its facilities starting on Sept. 20, it’s looking like that date will be pushed back.
A report intended for city council on Wednesday detailed the reasoning for wanting to push the date back to Nov. 15.
“The City has stated publicly that the proof of vaccination for public accessing city facilities would only be implemented when a QR code is available and accessible for the majority of residents 12 years of age and older,” the report by the city manager’s office read. “The QR code provides residents with a method of showing proof of vaccination while protecting personal health information.
“Technical details related to both the QR code and the scanning app have yet to be released by the government of Saskatchewan. The City will require a reasonable amount of time after receiving the technical details to ensure we have completed the appropriate due diligence.”
The report went on to say the QR code system that the provincial government has been working on is still expected to be launched before the end of September.
City employees will also be seeing an extended wait before they have to provide vaccination proof.
“The City is in the final stages of developing a Proof of COVID-19 Vaccination Administrative Policy to reduce the risks of COVID-19 in the workplace and to provide a safe environment for employees and the public to access and use City facilities,” the report read.
“On (Tuesday), our five unions and associations will be provided a copy of the policy for comment with a targeted implementation date of mid-October,” the report read. “City employees and contractors will be receiving further updates on the policy and what it means to them over the coming days and weeks.”
Even with the delay, the city maintains that Regina is in a good position when it comes to COVID-19 cases.
“The situation in Regina is stable at the moment with the recognition that the local and provincial situation can change quickly as we have seen over the summer in Saskatoon and northern Saskatchewan,” the report said. “The (Saskatchewan Health Authority) is closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation and, at this time, does not have a single set of thresholds or triggers for the Province to adopt province-wide directives.”
The province saw a record amount of COVID-19 cases announced on Monday with the Regina region reporting 24 new cases.