The vaccination record policy was implemented across the province last Monday, which means every resident must show proof of vaccination against COVID-19 before entering a number of different events and businesses.
The policy faced plenty of backlash on social media, and protests were held by residents across Prince George on numerous occasions, including one at the University Hospital of Northern BC just days before the policy was introduced.
Since the policy was introduced, the Prince George RCMP have only responded to a few instances of customers becoming unruly or upset because of the policy.
“Since September 13th, we’ve had just three calls from businesses or people who are non-compliant with current orders,” explained PG RCMP Corporal Jennifer Cooper.
She says one of the incidents occurred at a local gym just hours after the new policy was introduced.
“This was another case of like we’ve seen all the way through this pandemic in Prince George, a patron of that gym initially didn’t want to comply with the new orders that rolled out that morning on September the 13th. But when police arrived they spoke calmly with police who reminded them of the new orders and they decided to leave the establishment instead of continuing to make a complaint.”
Cooper says all throughout the pandemic there have been complaints from businesses surrounding health orders, but typically anyone that is upset with the policy cools down once the police arrive.
Business owners and staff across PG are being reminded to call the police if a customer refuses to leave an establishment after they’ve been asked to do so, especially if they feel unsafe.
“If they become agitated and start to make a scene and won’t leave the area, definitely put in a call to police and let us know. We will always try and respond to these in order to kind of mitigate the need for employees to take this on all by themselves with someone who seems to be quite agitated about it,” added Cooper.
Finally, Cooper says nobody has called the PG RCMP to complain about businesses not complying with the order as those calls can be directed to Bylaw services.
Certain businesses are required to use the BC Vaccine Card Verifier App, which is used to scan a QR code to read the cardholder’s name and vaccination status.
Those found not complying with the policy could face a fine of up to $2,300.
The BC Government website reminds business owners that they have the right to refuse service to anyone who is not abiding by the order.