Non-vaccinated caregivers were in court on Wednesday morning to obtain the right to provide support, care and comfort to their family members housed in various types of residences, such as CHSLDs.
Faced with the threat of the Omicron variant, the Quebec government has banned since the end of December visits by caregivers if they are not vaccinated, to avoid the risk of an outbreak.
But without them, their loved ones quickly wither away, especially those suffering from Alzheimer’s, they argued before the Court, through the voice of their lawyer, Ms.and Natalia Manole, the same who challenged on behalf of her clients the vaccination obligation for health workers.
It is therefore urgent to act: “one day for these people is like a year for us”, pleaded the lawyer.
She is applying for an urgent injunction and is also asking the court to strike down the portion of the ministerial order that restricts her clients’ rights.
Caregivers are willing to undergo a COVID-19 screening test, under supervision, before entering a place of accommodation, she said.
And then the healthcare workers are already in those same residences and they can work there even if they’re not vaccinated — and even if they test positive. We just ask that caregivers be subject to the same conditions, insists Mand Manol.
Quebec argued that this decision was made in the interest of society and public health.
And it is not for the courts to interfere in the means chosen by a government to protect its population, because its decisions are presumed to have been made in good faith, argued Ms.and François-Alexandre Gagné, one of the lawyers for the Attorney General of Quebec.
Here, the government wants to avoid the risk of outbreaks. “We don’t want to minimize the importance of caregivers at all.”
The government must choose between “two evils” illustrated the lawyer: restricted access to loved ones and the risk of an outbreak. And neither of these two solutions is perfect, he decided.