Business that led proof of vax charge will likely stop asking for it

The co-director of a Regina yoga studio thinks it’s a bit early to end COVID-19 restrictions in Saskatchewan.

Bodhi Tree Yoga was among the first in the province to implement a proof of vaccination requirement, doing so in July after restrictions were first lifted.

On Tuesday, the provincial government announced it was ending the proof of vaccination requirement on Monday. Mandatory masking is expected to end Feb. 28.

Colin Hall with the studio said he’s “not surprised at all (by the government’s decision), but also not really happy about it.”

Hall said a data-based approach to lifting restrictions — one where targets were set and a road map established for where cases and hospitalizations should be — would have been his preferred method.

However, Hall said the province is facing a different COVID landscape for the second time it’s eliminating public health measures.

“There was a very real risk of people being hospitalized as a result of going to a yoga class,” Hall said, thinking of the fourth wave when Delta was spreading across Saskatchewan.

Hall remembered that hundreds of people died during the Delta wave in Saskatchewan, which came on the heels of last year’s restriction-free summer.

That risk was not one Hall was willing to impose on himself, his staff or their students. Now, though, Hall said Bodhi Tree will likely not require proof of vaccination once the province lifts the mandate Monday morning.

With increased vaccination rates and the Omicron variant, he feels people are in a place where they can take precautions on their own more effectively and can better judge how to protect themselves.

The removal of the vaccine passport means the studio can consider offering drop-in classes once again, as it did before the pandemic.

However, the studio will be requiring students to mask up for classes even after the end of the month.

“I don’t know why you would just walk straight on into an increased likelihood of getting COVID, even if it doesn’t likely result in serious illness,” Hall said.

To Premier Scott Moe’s warning to businesses to seek legal advice should they choose to continue requiring proof of vaccination on their own, Hall responded with a chuckle: “We did that.”

“That was the same thing they said back in July,” he added.

He said the advice Bodhi Tree received last summer was that as a business, it’s free to put in restrictions as terms of service — as long as they consider privacy guidelines when collecting personal data, such as a health record.

Removing the vaccine passport requirement is something that was anticipated eventually, Hall said, though he reiterated that it is coming quickly.

“I think that we are back now where we started from, where individuals and businesses are left to kind of make health decisions on their own, without any guidance and now, without any data,” Hall said.

“We most likely won’t know that until it’s far too late. It’s certainly not a great situation and I just don’t want to give the impression that I’m in any way happy with this decision.”

Whether the province will be able to remain restriction free is still up in the air, he noted.

“One thing I’ve learned from this pandemic: Don’t make plans,” Hall said with a laugh.