A wrench in the vax pass system

Plus: New rules for retirement homes, back-to-back watchdog reports, Krista Ford for Premier, a juicy Liberal fundraiser, and MPP holiday cards hit mailboxes

ABOVE THE FOLD

Staring down Omicron and its many as-yet unknown threats, Ontario can’t say whether it’s sticking to the plan to wind down the vaccine certificate system as early as January 17.

That was never set in stone and always “subject to the caveat that if there was a situation such as a variant we don’t know about, and we don’t know what’s going to happen, we would have to re-evaluate,” said Health Minister CHRISTINE ELLIOTT.

Under the pre-Omicron framework, the mask mandate and other restrictions could be wiped out by the end March.

More details on where things stand could be coming this afternoon from top doc KIERAN MOORE, who’s addressing the matter in a bonus briefing this week.

Critics say putting out an end date undermines the passport system itself. NDP Leader ANDREA HORWATH called Ford’s refusal to scrap the January 17 date outright a “dog-whistle to anti-vaxxers.”

“Mr. Ford’s message is: it’s ok to wait it out instead of getting a vaccine.”