Quebec to make vaccination mandatory

QUEBEC • All Quebec health-care workers who have contact with patients will be required to get vaccinated to be able to work, Premier François Legault announced Tuesday, outlining a fresh round of ANTI-COVID-19 measures.

Legault said 90 per cent of health-care workers in the province are already vaccinated but the remaining 10 per cent pose a risk to patients.

The mandate will apply to any health-care worker who enters into contact with patients for more than 15 minutes at a time, including nurses and doctors. Legault did not say when the new health order will enter into force.

“I know it’s not the news we wanted,” Legault said, resuming his pandemic news conferences at the legislature. “But the fourth wave is here. The Delta variant is hyper contagious. The situation is worrying.”

He said he knows Quebecers are still on holidays and don’t want to hear about COVID-19, but “the virus does not take holidays,” and he was forced into action.

“Quebecers won’t be spared by the fourth wave,” Legault said.

The number of daily cases has gone from 50 or 60 a day and is expected to reach 400, while hospitalizations are rising.

Masks will also be mandatory for students in junior colleges and universities in classrooms and common areas this fall.

The premier said the Health Department is still considering whether to impose a mask-wearing order inside classrooms for primary and secondary schools.

He said with back to school in two weeks, which will mean more contacts, he had to act.

In an attempt to make peace with the opposition parties upset about Quebec’s decision to go ahead with vaccination passports without being consulted, Legault offered to hold parliamentary committee hearings next week to examine the new obligation for health-care workers to get vaccinated.

Legault made the announcement after suddenly suspending his summer tour of Quebec to return to the capital to manage the pandemic.

On Tuesday, Quebec reported 323 new cases, but no new deaths.

Almost 75 per cent of Quebecers 12 and older are fully vaccinated.