Legault opens door to another delay for mandatory vaccines among health-care workers
Premier François Legault opened the door on Monday to another postponement of the mandatory vaccination of health-care workers.
In a series of interviews given in the morning, he mentioned the shortage of personnel to justify a possible postponement of the Nov. 15 deadline.
Originally, all Quebec health-care workers had to be properly vaccinated by Oct. 15 or risk being suspended without pay.
The Legault government was unable to carry out the threat because it would have deprived the system of approximately 22,000 workers, putting too much pressure on services.
Health Minister Christian Dubé ended up extending the deadline to Nov. 15.
According to the government's most recent report, 19,634 health and social services workers are still not adequately vaccinated, including 13,714 who have not received any doses.
On Monday, Legault suggested in an interview on 98.5 FM that mandatory vaccination would not be imposed on the entire network, but rather on certain sectors, in certain regions.
"We hope to be able to apply the decree. We will certainly be able to apply it in certain places," he said. "In the emergency room, it is certain that it must be applied because there is a very close contact with the patients. There are areas where we will be able to implement it."
"What we want is to apply it everywhere," said Legault went on to point out that only 3 per cent of nurses have refused the vaccination, but "it's a 3 per cent that we need because we're already short of 4,000," he said.
On QUB radio, the premier said that "it will depend a lot on the recruitment of nurses," before adding: "There are surely some groups where there will be no carry-over."
Quebec is offering bonuses of $12,000 to $18,000, for a total of up to $1 billion, to bring at least 4,000 nurses back into the public health care system in the coming months.
Dubé recently said 1,756 people had accepted the offer: 58 were retired, 351 were from private agencies and 1,347 were part-time and moved to full-time.
- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Oct. 25, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
opinion Why you should protect your investments by naming a trusted contact person
Appointing a trusted person to help with financial obligations can give you peace of mind. In his personal finance column for CTVNews.ca, Christopher Liew outlines the key benefits of naming a confidant to take over your financial responsibilities, if the need ever arises.
Twins from Toronto were Canada's top two female finishers at this year's Boston Marathon
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet
NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense. The most distant spacecraft from Earth hadn't sent home any understandable data since last November.
U.S. Senate passes bill forcing TikTok's parent company to sell or face ban, sends to Biden for signature
The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.S. lawmakers that's expected to face legal challenges.
Train derailed in Sarnia after colliding with a truck
Police are investigating after a transport truck collided with a train in Sarnia.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Wildfire southwest of Peace River spurs evacuation order
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.