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Business owners and operators still undecided about dropping COVID-19 vaccination requirements want to see the Manitoba government maintain its immunization card program after provincial mandates and public health orders are lifted.

West End Cultural Centre executive director Jason Hooper said board members for the non-profit Winnipeg venue will decide Feb. 22 if COVID-19 vaccination and masks will be required for patrons attending events starting next month.

“It’s really about keeping people safe and reducing the risk of transmitting the virus at an event,” Hooper said in an interview Tuesday. “It’s still out there, it’s still a pandemic — so we’re looking at ways that we can keep staff, volunteers, patrons and artists safe while still being open and operating.”

On Tuesday, public health orders that capped capacity and placed a number of restrictions on businesses were lifted as the province moves towards the elimination of restrictions by mid-March.

By March 1, orders requiring people to show proof of vaccination to dine-in at restaurants, attend concerts, gyms and a number of other public venues will be lifted. Provincial mask mandates will follow March 15.

Premier Heather Stefanson was asked Monday if the provincial application — which checks unique codes against a database of vaccination records — would go dark when vaccination requirements are lifted.

She made no guarantees the technology would still be available to businesses that choose to limit access.

“We’ll have those discussions, I guess, at cabinet and internally to see what the next steps are in terms of removing the QR codes, what that will look like in terms of the process and probably have more discussions about that and more to reveal at a later date,” the premier said.

As a venue operator, Hooper said he’d like the option to use the Manitoba Immunization Verifier application. However, if it is not available, the venue may rely on the pan-Canadian vaccination certificate instead.

Hooper expects the venue could face backlash if it chooses to keep vaccination and masking requirements, and that’s why the decision is being made at the board level. Meantime, roughly $70,000 worth of ventilation improvements are underway to improve COVID-19 safety, he added.

“We have different expectations of ourselves and what the community expects of us, and we are beholden to the community in ways that a privately owned organization isn’t,” Hooper said. “It is important for a decision of this weight to be made by the whole of the organization.”

A recent survey of about 200 restaurants indicated 35 per cent of operators plan to keep vaccination requirements beyond March 1, Manitoba Restaurant & Foodservices Association executive director Shaun Jeffrey said.

“That’s unfortunately not available to them if the app is not available,” Jeffrey said. “They should be given that right to do so as operators of a private business, but without the technology, it’s hard to do that.”

Reached by phone Tuesday, Brian Koshul was busy preparing to welcome crowds back to his Winnipeg nightclub this week.

Koshul, who owns the Village Nightclub, said no decisions have been made when it comes to proof of vaccination beyond March 1. He plans to reach out to customers to see how they feel about dropping the requirement when public health orders permit.

“I think it’s something we have to discuss as a business, because you risk losing customers, but we’re of the mindset that our customers were double-vaccinated anyway,” Koshul said.

During the time the club was permitted to operate, Koshul said his staff found plenty of fraudulent immunization cards using the verification app. He hopes the government keeps the app active, should customers and staff favour vaccination requirements.

“I don’t have an opinion one way or another. When you’re in hospitality, the opinion is of your customers.”

A number of restaurant and venue operators have already decided they will follow the government’s lead and let COVID-19 vaccination requirements fall by the wayside once orders allow.

“It’s been a very tough two years. For us, it’s been brutal, we’ve lost a lot financially, so we need to open up and we’re going to follow the recommendations that are coming in,” King’s Head Pub owner Chris Graves said in Winnipeg.

Graves acknowledged some customers may be uncomfortable heading into a place where COVID-19 vaccination is not required, but said the government has forced his hand.

“No matter if I wanted to wear a mask, if I wanted to check vaccine passports or not, they’ve forced us to go down the road anyway,” he said. “At the end of the day, I cannot just cater to 75 or 80 per cent of the population because I still pay 100 per cent business taxes and 100 per cent property taxes.”

Feast Cafe Bistro owner Christa Bruneau Guenther said if provincial public health officials endorse dropping vaccination requirements for people to dine-in, she has faith in their expertise.

“They have a lot more scientists and researchers and people who are far smarter than me. If they’re OK with the government making that decision then, obviously, we’re at the tail end of this pandemic and enough people have been vaccinated that it’s not as big of a threat,” Guenther said. “I will trust in their decision as well.”

Meanwhile, Times Change(d) High and Lonesome Club owner John Scoles said his venue will follow public health orders in place March 1, but expects to feel the heat from customers who want requirements maintained.

Patrons have been overwhelmingly supportive of vaccine requirements to date, he said.

“But that works a lot because people respect the science, they respect the health orders,” Scoles said. “If you take that health order away and you just say I’m arbitrarily telling people what they can and can’t do, then you’re asking for trouble.”

The province should maintain its immunization verification application for those who want to use it, Scoles said.

“You want to watch out (not) to go out of your way to eliminate all of the ground you’ve gained,” Scoles said. “I don’t think we should be extraordinarily hasty here.”

Previously, the province said it had budgeted $4.3 million to implement the Manitoba Immunization Card and the accompanying application to verify QR codes.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca