Ontario’s top doctor says proof-of-vaccination has served the province well but adds if there is any change in COVID risk, there could be a recommendation to leave verification up to businesses.

“I can tell you we’re meeting regularly with government and making ongoing recommendations to protect the health of Ontarians and one of them if the verification, certification process which I think has done us well at protecting our businesses and keeping them open, minimizing spread,” said Dr. Kieran Moore.

Amid growing calls for more widely available rapid tests, Dr. Moore says news on increased availability is coming soon. It’s unclear how these tests perform with the new Omicron variant but they are effective with the Delta variant, which continues to account for the bulk of cases in the province.

The Health Ministry says the province currently has almost 6 million rapid antigen tests in its inventory, and as of the end of last month, handed out over 33 million.

Dr. Moore says the new antivirals and monoclonal antibody treatments to treat COVID — not yet approved in Canada — could play a major role in mitigating the severity of the illness.

In response to new COVID modelling that predicts up to 400 people in ICU by next month, the province is maintaining capacity limits on high risk settings like nightclubs.