The vaccination of health workers will no longer be mandatory for current employees of the health network, announced Wednesday the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, canceling in the same breath the deadline of November 15 which had been imposed on caregivers .
A total of 97% of healthcare workers received at least one dose of the vaccine. “We tried everything to vaccinate the last 3%,” admitted the minister. “It’s not moving much in the last days,” he added, referring to “a hard core” of workers who still refuse to be inoculated.
On October 14, Minister Dubé pushed back by one month the first deadline for compulsory vaccination. He had given unvaccinated employees of the health network an extra month to comply with his directive.
At that date, 14,000 caregivers in Quebec had still not received a single dose of vaccine. The figure is about the same a month later. Of the number, 5,000 are in direct contact with patients, detailed Mr. Dubé.
The day before, he had also “pointed out” to journalists that since October 15, “there are people who must be tested every three days”. The minister added that he intended to be “firm on this”; not to allow workers who refuse to be tested to remain in their jobs.
Further details will follow.
Watch video