Premier Blaine Higgs said vaccine passports could be coming to New Brunswick if the province's vaccination rates do not improve.

New Brunswick's vaccination numbers have slowed drastically in the last month. The province has fallen from first to last in fully vaccinated rates in Atlantic Canada, and New Brunswick is now in 8th place of the 10 provinces, ahead of only Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Higgs said the province is evaluating its capabilities to implement a vaccine passport system, and that New Brunswick will be in a position to introduce such a system in the next several weeks, if necessary.

A vaccine passport system would only allow vaccinated individuals to participate in certain activities, such as indoor dining or attending festivals or sporting events.

The province of Quebec is putting their vaccine passport system in place starting September 1st, and BC's vaccine passport system comes into effect on September 13th.