84,000 Quebecers Have Downloaded Their QR Codes & Here's What To Know If You're Waiting

As COVID-19 vaccine appointments in Quebec open up to anyone 18 or older, the province has also started sending out QR codes that people can use as electronic proof of their injections.

Eighty-four thousand Quebecers have already downloaded their QR codes, which have been available since Thursday, according to a tweet by Minister of Health and Social Services Christian Dubé. 

Editor's Choice: Vaccine Appointments Are Now Open To All Quebecers 18+

When will you receive your QR code?

If you got a vaccine dose, but haven't received your QR code yet, don't panic! Just hang onto that scraggly piece of paper for a little while longer. 

Dr. Horacio Arruda, Quebec's director of public health, told Radio Canada that those who got vaccine doses before May 13 should receive a notification within a few weeks, as email addresses from the past few months still need to be retrieved from Clic Santé. 

"Anyone who has already received a dose or who will be getting the vaccine from now on will receive an email or text asking if they want electronic proof," Dubé wrote on Twitter.  

"An update will be made with the 2nd dose when adequately vaccinated."

What is the QR code for exactly?

When Dubé announced the QR codes at a press conference on May 6, he was adamant that this isn't a vaccine passport.

"Right now, the piece of paper that you receive when you get vaccinated is just proof that you have been vaccinated. It's not a passport. [...] So, that's the same thing. We just go from paper to digital. That's the first step," he said. 

On Twitter, Dubé noted that public health is continuing its "intensive work" on the potential use of the QR code so it's possible that its uses could change or expand in the near future. 

Could it be a vaccine passport in the future?

"We're not there yet," Dubé told Narcity Québec earlier this week. 

Dubé also said if Quebecers only had electronic proof of vaccination rather than a vaccine passport, he would be "very happy," Narcity Québec reported.  

At the May 6 press conference, Arruda said the government would need to address ethical concerns before moving forward with a vaccine passport.

"What we want to do here is a good analysis, given the ethical and other issues. I think there may be a use for it. [...] We're not saying no, we're saying we're looking at it," he said.