Quebec still tightens the screw: no vaccine, no department store

Despite the reactions to the idea of ​​​​a health contribution, François Legault continues to tighten the screw on the unvaccinated by preventing them from accessing big box stores like Costco, Canadian Tire and Walmart.

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As of January 24, you will have to show your vaccination passport to access stores with an area of ​​1,500 square meters or more.

Only small businesses, grocery stores and pharmacies will be exceptions to the rule.

This is “the price to pay” when you refuse to be vaccinated, suggested the chief caquist during a press briefing.

François Legault also stays the course towards the imposition of a tax contribution on taxpayers who refuse the vaccine.

A bill will also be tabled in the National Assembly as soon as the return to the Blue Room, at the beginning of February.

“It is important to debate it in the National Assembly, to listen to the suggestions of the opposition parties,” acknowledged the Prime Minister, who also does not rule out the possibility of opting for a fine instead.

“There will be an amount to pay for those who, without good reason, refuse to be vaccinated,” he summed up.

The details are not yet known that already at least one organization, the Justice Center for Constitutional Freedoms, intends to challenge this measure in court.

The light at the end of the tunnel

In the good news department, François Legault confirmed that the curfew will be lifted at the same time as the return to class, next Monday.

January 16 will be the last day that businesses are closed on Sunday.

The latest projections suggest that the peak of the fifth wave has been reached, allowing these changes to the measures.

“We finally see the light at the end of the tunnel,” said the Prime Minister.

• Listen to the Latraverse-Dumont meeting on QUB Radio:

As for the return to school, the government tried to be reassuring. The new acting national director of public health, Dr.^r Luc Boileau, assured that the start of the school year can be done in a “safe” way thanks to the new protocols, even with the procedure masks. The N95 will thus be reserved for certain specialized classes.

“We have a brand new virus with the Omicron variant. It is a completely different situation that we are going to experience in our classes, in our schools. The new variant, it has much less impact on young people, and especially young people who are vaccinated, “said Mr. Legault.

He also took the opportunity to encourage parents to have their child vaccinated, if this has not already been done.

While the vaccination rate reached 98% among adolescents, among 5 to 11 year olds, the vaccination coverage rate has stagnated at 60% since the holiday break. “It’s not enough,” said Health Minister Christian Dubé.

Rapid tests

The Minister of Education, Jean-François Roberge, also pointed out that over the next few weeks, more than 7 million rapid tests will be distributed to primary and preschool students, half of them in the next two weeks and next in February.

“You have to be careful when you say that it is the school that is the engine of contagion when it is often a reflection of what is happening elsewhere. […] Contagion in schools is a reflection of community contagion,” insisted Mr. Roberge.

• Listen to the reaction of political analysts Elsie Lefebvre and Marc-André Leclerc on QUB radio

Even if the number of new cases stabilizes, the situation remains “critical” in the health network, and increases in hospitalizations are to be expected to continue over the next 10 days.

“We still have a couple of tough weeks to go,” warned Minister Dubé.

“It is possible that the next weekend may be the toughest weekend since the start of the pandemic in the health network,” added Mr. Legault.

— With the collaboration of Patrick Bellerose

Which places will be targeted?

• All stores of 1,500 square meters and more will have to require the vaccination passport from January 24.
• This includes big-box stores that are inside a shopping center.
• Grocery stores and pharmacies, essential businesses, will be exempt.
• Thus, Canadian Tire, Walmart and Costco, in particular, will be prohibited entry to unvaccinated people.

In short

The peak reached on January 5

With the peak of cases of the fifth wave having been reached on January 5 and the number of hospitalizations being about to stabilize, according to the government, the curfew will finally be lifted next Monday.

According to François Legault, it is thanks to the efforts of Quebecers that the first reductions in the measures imposed in December have been made.

“It shocked a lot of people, but the reason we did that is to stop the exponential rise in the number of infections and hospitalizations,” said the chief caquist.

$500 million in bounties

Following negotiations with the unions, the government will pay the equivalent of $500 million in bonuses to stem the shortage of personnel in the health network.

New incentives will allow, for example, to cover the taxi and meal costs of employees who work overtime, and to offer double time.

Administrative agents will also be called in to lighten the administrative tasks of the nursing staff.

Patience… caution

Until further notice, nothing changes regarding private gatherings, restaurants and performance venues.

“We have to go gradually,” repeated the Prime Minister.

The next step, for the government, could be to authorize the resumption of sports and extracurricular activities, but it is public health that will have the last word.

“Let’s be patient, let’s be careful, because we know that after winter comes spring,” said Mr. Legault.

The worst avoided thanks to the vaccine

Without high vaccination coverage, the Omicron variant would have caused much greater “ravages” in Quebec.

“If we hadn’t been vaccinated, between the 1^er and on January 7, it is not 250 hospitalizations per day that we would have had, it is nearly 900, and we would have had approximately more than 3000 deaths, just last week, ”estimates the national director of Acting Public Health, the D^r Luc Boileau.

About 90% of the Quebec population has received at least one dose of vaccine.

Dates to remember in January

• Sunday January 16 : Last Sunday closed for non-essential businesses.
• Monday January 17: Back to school in primary and secondary. End of the curfew.
• Tuesday January 18: Vaccination passport required at the SAQ and the SQDC.
• Monday January 24: Vaccination passport required in supermarkets.

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