Ontarians Should 'Be Prepared' To Have Vaccine Passports & Masks If It's Needed Again

While it may seem like the COVID-19 pandemic is past us since Ontario eased restrictions and is set to lift mask mandates soon, Ontarians might not want to throw away their masks quite yet.

On March 17, Ontario's COVID-19 Science Advisory Table published its latest projections for the province and cautions that residents should "be prepared" for certain health measures to be reintroduced.

The science table said that Ontarians should still use masks "whenever necessary" in order to protect vulnerable people, or themselves, stay home when they're feeling sick and get all of their vaccine doses if they haven't yet.

On top of that, the science table said that Ontario should also be ready to bring back vaccine passports and mask mandates if they are needed again.

Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore previously warned Ontarians that masks might make a comeback if "a new variant of concern emerges."

The science table also said that the province should be prepared to bring back mass COVID-19 vaccine campaigns if the pandemic worsens, as well as keep up with protective health measures for those living and working in high-risk settings like hospitals and long-term care facilities.

Now that Ontario has taken away vaccine certificates, scrapped capacity limits and limits on social gathering sizes and is set to gradually lift mask mandates, the science table predicts that there will be a rise in COVID-19 transmission.

"The extent of this increase, and of a person's risk of contracting COVID-19, will depend on the number of close contacts (especially indoors without masking), vaccination status, and the spread of the more transmissible BA.2 subvariant," the science table said.

Health Canada has a robust website with all the latest information on COVID-19 vaccines and can answer any questions you may have.