This would allow people to download the BC vaccination card – which is still required for a number of discreet activities, including dining in restaurants – without having been vaccinated. Health Secretary Adrian Dix said the matter remained under investigation, but that Burnaby was no longer involved in the government’s immunization program. The county has also suspended the pharmacy’s ability to charge through PharmaCare, a measure that is rarely used and available under the Pharmaceutical Services Act. If any pharmacist is found to have entered human information into the BC vaccine system without actually providing them with a vaccine, there will be “very serious consequences,” Dix said. “This is a serious matter,” the minister told a news conference on Friday. “People are right in their opinions, but you have to behave appropriately.” These consequences could include prosecution, according to the Ministry of Health. Dix said the investigation concerns a specific pharmacy location and not the chain to which it belongs. On Friday, a notice at the Medicine Shoppe at 4277 Kingsway stated that he was not prescribing. Asked how such allegations are being investigated, Dix said the government can check if a pharmacy regularly provides vaccines to people living more than 100 miles (100 km) away. “Let’s say you drive through 50 pharmacies to go to a particular pharmacy and then a lot of people do that, that would be an unusual result. This is the kind of thing you could easily identify through our systems,” he said. the minister. It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post, but officials did not rule out the possibility. The Ministry of Health told CTV News that any fraudulent vaccine records would be removed from the register and illegal BC vaccine cards would be revoked. The BC Pharmacy Association told CTV News it supported the government’s inquiry, calling the integrity of the province’s vaccine program “extremely important”. “The COVID-19 vaccine helps keep our communities safe. British Colombians need to know that when a person identifies themselves as fully vaccinated, they are actually fully vaccinated,” a spokesman said in an email. The College of Pharmacists told CTV News it could not comment on the allegations, nor even confirm whether it was conducting its own investigation. In addition to food in restaurants, proof of vaccination is also required to participate in indoor weddings, sporting events with tickets and other events. Officials are expected to end the BC Vaccine Card program early next month. With files from Travis Prasad of CTV News Vancouver and the Canadian Press
