All health-care workers must be vaccinated by Oct. 15 or face suspension without pay, Quebec announces
The Legault government announced that all health and social services workers in Quebec must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 15 or face suspension without pay.
Quebec’s health minister Christian Dubé made the announcement during a news conference Tuesday alongside Premier François Legault and his director of public health, Dr. Horacio Arruda.
The new mandatory vaccination requirement applies to public and private sectors workers, and it goes a step further from the previous mandate which applied only to workers who deal with patients for more than 15 minutes.
When asked by a reporter Tuesday whether it will apply to cleaning staff and security personnel in health-care settings, Dubé bluntly replied, "Everybody."
“Our health network is already under a lot of pressure, particularly in the Montreal region. We cannot, therefore, accept that workers put vulnerable people at risk,” said Dubé.
The health minister also announced that anyone visiting a hospital must present their vaccine passport.
The government, however, will make some exceptions. For example, an unvaccinated person who wishes to visit a dying loved one in a hospital will be allowed to enter the facility, according to the health minister.
UNVACCINATED FILLING UP HOSPITAL BEDS
Tuesday marked the first week since the province’s new VaxiCode vaccine passport was introduced. It is required to access various non-essential services, such as bars, restaurants, theatres, and some sports activities, among others.
The government has said that the use of the vaccine passport is meant in large to prevent another lockdown, as well as keeping businesses open in the midst of a fourth wave.
On Tuesday, the province reported 515 new COVID-19 cases as well as an increase of 24 new hospitalizations since Friday. The vast majority of the new cases (403) are among people who are not fully vaccinated.
The officials lambasted those filling up hospitals and taking the place of other people waiting for surgeries and other procedures at a time when there is a current shortage of nurses, particularly in the intensive care ward.
“Clearly, for non-vaccinated [people], you're taking the place of somebody that should be in your place,” the health minister said.
The premier said the government is “turning over every stone” to bring back some nurses to the health-care sector, including retired nurses, since lack of nurses is creating the bottleneck in care.
“And it's not that we don't have enough beds. We have enough beds," he said.
"But there's an overflow, it's full to the brim, because we don't have enough nurses, so of course, we are in a situation where we are looking at what we could possibly do.
Legault noted that in the past month, hospitalizations due to COVID-19 shot up from 55 to 171. The province has vaccinated 87 per cent of the eligible population with one dose of the vaccine as of Tuesday.
“It doesn't seem like a lot, 13 per cent, but it's hundreds of thousands of people,” he said. “Of course, we can't allow [those] thousands of people to end up in our hospitals.”
More than 6,029,252 people, or 80 per cent of the eligible population, have received both doses.
'THIS IS NOT A RESPONSIBLE DECISION': UNION
Unions representing Quebec health-care workers, however, have condemned the government’s decision to make vaccination mandatory for its members.
While they agree vaccines are important in the fight against COVID-19, they say a blanket mandate will be “dangerous.”
“We are already living with a serious labour shortage in the sector. This announcement risks creating service disruptions in our institutions," said Isabelle Laperrière, interim president of CUPE's Conseil provincial des affaires sociales, in a written statement.
"This is not a responsible decision on the part of the government."
CUPE, which represents more than 122,000 members in Quebec, said vaccine mandates for only workers who deal with patients for more than 15 minutes would have been a more “reasonable” approach.
Sylvie Nelson, president of the Syndicat québécois des employées et employés de service, affiliated with the FTQ, said she feels like the government made the decision “in haste.”
"As a union organization, although we are completely in favour of vaccination, we have no choice but to defend our members' rights. It is not only our mission, but also an obligation imposed on us by the legal framework," she wrote in a statement.
"We are waiting for the ministerial order to know the details of the announcement and the exceptions that could be included in it in order to determine what action we will have to take,” Nelson said.
Meanwhile, the interim president of the Alliance du personnel professionnel et technique de la santé et des services sociaux (APTS) said the employees who are vaccinated “will be going through hell because of the lack of personnel as of October 15.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.