International students happy they’re eligible for vax cards

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This article was published 02/09/2021 (1518 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After months of waiting, international students got some good news on Monday when the province announced that vaccine passport eligibility would be expanded to include people who can’t receive Manitoba health cards.

Now, anyone who has been fully immunized, waited 14 days since their last injection and have proof of their vaccination can apply for a immunization card by calling 1-844-626-8222 (or 1-844-MAN-VACC).

Brandon University Students’ Union president Olufunke Adeleye told the Sun on Wednesday she was really happy with this development, since international students such as herself were not included when the province launched its immunization card program in early June.

Even though international students — alongside other outlying groups such as foreign workers and military personnel — were told they can try to use their official vaccination record in lieu of an immunization card, Adeleye said this improved accessibility puts them on more of an even level as other Manitobans.

“It means that they’ve been listening to the concerns and they’ve obviously been looking for ways to make sure that those concerns can be alleviated,” said Adeleye, who originally hails from Nigeria.

University of Manitoba international student Callum Morrison was also pleased with Monday’s announcement, telling the Sun that he called the hotline within 15 minutes of hearing the news.

While the line was initially very busy, Morrison received a callback from a provincial representative later that day, who helped him set up a digital version of the vaccine passport on his phone.

Now he’s just waiting for the physical immunization card to arrive in the mail.

“I’m really, really happy that this has gone through,” Morrison said on Tuesday. “Because this is a big thing to the people who have been left out.”

Throughout the last couple months, Morrison, who is originally from Scotland, has talked to the Sun multiple times about his displeasure with the province’s delay in closing this gap in services.

He said it points to a broader issue with the current PC government’s approach to health care, since they repealed a clause in the Manitoba Health Services Insurances Act in 2018 that gave college and university students from abroad access to universal health care.

While that issue still stands, Morrison said giving international students access to the immunization cards during a global pandemic is a step in the right direction.

After all, the province’s newest round of COVID-19 health restrictions will come into effect on Friday, which will require the use of immunization cards to access many different events, businesses and recreation facilities.

“You have to give them some credit. At least they did get around to it,” Morrison said. “It should have happened right at the beginning, but they did eventually listen and get through. So I’m happy for that and grateful.”

Adeleye later told the Sun via email that 446 international students were registered during BU’s 2020-21 academic year. However, enrolment numbers for this upcoming fall semester won’t be available until November.

» kdarbyson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter:@KyleDarbyson