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Dr. Henry: As of September 13th, you will need to have at least one dose of vaccine to enter these settings, and by October 24th, entry to the settings will require people age 12 and older to be fully vaccinated at least seven days after receiving both doses.

The settings we are talking about include indoor ticketed sporting events, indoor concerts, theatre, dance and symphony events, indoor and patio dining in restaurants, night clubs and casinos, fitness centres, gyms and businesses offering indoor high-intensity exercise, organized indoor events like weddings or parties, birthdays, conferences and workshops, and discretionary indoor recreational classes and activities, so things like seniors classes, choirs and other indoor groups.

These new measures will help reduce transmission and keep our communities safer and ensure we can continue to keep businesses open, continue to have those social and arts and sports events as safely as we can for those who are protected.

There will be more details about how to access your BC Vaccination Card, but just be assured, it's a confidential system that will allow you to download onto your phone the card that indicates whether you are partially vaccinated, fully vaccinated, or non-vaccinated, and businesses will be required to look for your vaccination card and your proof of identification as we do for many other things -- if we are attending a concert or going into a liquor store, for example.

There will also be provisions for people who don't have access to a phone to be able to do this through our call centre, and we'll be ramping up and giving you the details in the coming weeks. By the end of the long weekend, we'll have all of those the details out for you, but this is our way of getting through this next phase of the pandemic that we've been dealt and to make sure that we can go through the fall with safely re-opening schools, safely re-opening post-secondary education for students, for faculty, and to safely continue our businesses and events through the fall.

We also need to continue to do those things that keep us safe, including wearing masks in indoor, public areas, using hand hygiene regularly and keeping a respectful distance from people. We need to -- and we will be -- continually reassessing and adapting through this next phase and deal with the pandemic cards that we have been dealt.

This will be a time-limited initiative and as we move into the fall, we'll continue to work with the federal government to make sure we have an alignment with the federal vaccine passport that's under development as well.

Premier Horgan: This is a step we believe is important at this point in the pandemic and there is no reason why those who are anxious to participate in the social and economic life of our community can't take that next step and get that safe, effective vaccine; they're free, we have clinics around the province, there will be more opportunities through pop-up clinics, through walk-in clinics to make sure that decreasing number of people who have not yet taken advantage of this opportunity will do so. When they do that, that will give them opportunities to go nightclubs, to go to restaurants where...I have to say, and it's critically important at this point. In our consultations with the businesses community, those who provide services to people -- restaurateurs, the hospitality sector, tourism industries that have indoor activities, sporting events, cultural events, arts events...all of them want to make sure that they can continue to provide quality entertainment, quality services for British Columbians and they want to do it in a way that give their patrons confidence that they're taking every step possible to make sure they can attend an event, they can go to a spin class, they can go out for dinner and not be fearful that they may come into contact with someone who might be able to transmit COVID-19.

Minister Dix: In mid-August, the case rate among unvaccinated people was ten times higherthan the case rate in fully vaccinated people. Only 8% of the cases in hospitals are amongst fully vaccinated people. What it says is there's a profound need for your help to be vaccinated, and that in the time of the Delta variant, being unvaccinated puts you, your family and your community at risk.

I wanted to note, of course, we're at Step 3 in our restart plan as the premier said, and as Dr Henry and I indicated last week, it's likely we will not be moving to Step 4 on September 7th, which was the earliest possible date we would consider moving to that step.

In any event, today's action around a BC Vaccine Card is a key step in making sure we continue to move forward in BC, that we overcome COVID-19 together and that we move forward together.

Reporter: Will you extend this type of requirement to workplaces? A lot of people going back to work are very concerned about having to work next door to somebody who has not been vaccinated.

Dr. Henry: These measures that we're introducing today are for people who are attending these types of events or businesses. It is up to each business. The employer-employee relationship is a different one from somebody who is participating in an event or going to a business -- a restaurant, for example.

Yes, we have been working with WorkSafeBC to support businesses in looking at their COVID safety plans, the communicable disease plans, and where vaccinations fit in those plans. We've seen that from a number of businesses. We've seen commitments from the federal government around some of the federally regulated businesses and we'll continue to support businesses, particularly public-facing businesses, where vaccination is really important to protect staff.

This vaccine card is not for employees -- people who work in those settings. There's a different process that needs to take place for employees.

Reporter: One of the challenges here, obviously, is going to be enforcement. Doctor Henry, you just alluded to the businesses will have some responsibility here. Can you talk about what we expect from a restaurant or a movie theatre, in terms of enforcing that someone has the proper identification? What would the process be like if someone refuses, tells some 18-year-old server that they're coming in and they don't have proof of immunization with them?

Dr. Henry: I know these are the challenging things that we've been facing throughout this pandemic. It is very much the same thing as looking at proof of identification of age to get into a bar or a nightclub, for example. Yes, we'll be working -- and I know there's a number of ministries involved to support businesses and how to manage this.

We're making it as simple as we possibly can to have a confidential way of determining people's immunization status. Mostly, it will be either by phone or by showing a paper copy, plus proof of who you are. It will have government ID as well.

Yes, we do expect that there may be a small group of people who are protesting against this, as they have for other measures along the way. As it is a provincial health officer order, we do have the ability to support businesses with bylaw officers, with environmental health officers. We'll be continuing to work with them to support businesses in doing this in a way that's effective.

Reporter: Will there be exemptions for people travelling from outside of the province into BC, or do they have to -- how do they follow the same guidelines as BCers?

Dr. Henry: The short answer is no. This is a temporary measure that is getting us through a risky period, where we know that people who are unvaccinated are at greater risk of both contracting and spreading this virus. If there are those rare people who have a medical reason why they can't be immunized, these are discretionary events that we're talking about.

They will not be able to attend those events through this period of time of high risk. There are no exemptions for other reasons as well. It is really important that we're trying to do is be able to allow these discretionary events to [inaudible] we will have the ability for them to show their proof of vaccine.

It will be compatible with Quebec and with other provinces, and what their proof of immunization or their immunization record is. We have a process for that, as well as for international travellers, who all right now have to show their proof of immunization using the CANArrive [sic] app. We're working with the federal government to make sure we'll be aligned with that as well.

The only exemption, I will say, is that children under the age of 12 who are not yet eligible for vaccination, they will be able to attend sporting events or go to a restaurant if the parents or the adults they are with are fully vaccinated.

Premier Horgan: Just with respect to the inter-governmental connections here, other jurisdictions within Canada, other jurisdictions around the world, as Dr Henry said, we've been working with the federal government, with province and territories across Canada, to make sure that we are synchronizing this activity to the best of our ability.

Reporter: Can you talk about the technology to prevent people from forging their passports?

Premier Horgan: The work is being done inside government for a safe portal so that this information, and it's not about health details other than whether or not you have been immunized. We are doing our best working with the privacy commissioner and the people who work with technologies every day, overlaying that with the good work at the Public Health Office and in Minister Dix's ministry to make sure we can narrow down this technology to this one specific purpose.

We are confident that we have got there, and as we roll it out in September, it will be obvious to most people that this is, if you have the technology -- and vast majority of people do on their phone -- they can download that information and then apply it to whatever venue they want to enter, and we're hopeful this is going to be as seamless as we can make it.

Reporter: I'm wondering how this affects the measures brought into place in the Interior Health region. Does that mean in September we'll be able to relax some of those measures, or is that lockdown going to continue?

Dr. Henry: Yeah, that's a really good question. There is some discretion for areas of high transmission, and the Interior Health is one of them where we'll have discussions about whether we can put some of these measures in place sooner rather than later. So we may use it as an opportunity to test some of the vaccine card initiatives. We've been having early conversations about that. And yes, that should allow us to have some of these gatherings and events to happen more safely in those areas where we already have higher transmission.

Reporter: I was having trouble understanding what happens if someone from another province comes to BC and wants to go to a restaurant or wants to go to a play or a concert. Will they be able to, and what will they have to show for proof?

Minister Dix: We're going to work through province by province. Some provinces already have equivalent identification of different sorts now. So we'll be working through those issues with other provinces and be able to provide and support businesses in the coming weeks. Of course, this is coming into play September 13, so in advance of that, where we not only provide what people can expect from BCers but what they can expect from other people from other provinces in Canada.

Reporter: Dr. Henry, you mentioned this is a limited time requirement. But we'd like to know how long is limited. If you are suggesting that those who can't be vaccinated for medical reasons just won't be able to attend events like this while proof of vaccination is a requirement, how long will they have to wait?

Dr. Henry: Our intent right now is to be looking at January, reassessing as we go through the fall as we see what happens as we increase. Incrementally increasing just a small amount, the number of people who are vaccinated makes a big difference in how we can protect people. So we are looking at January, but we'll be reassessing on a month by month basis as we go through the fall.