On January 7, I asked in these pages “to make compulsory the presentation [d’une] proof of vaccination and an identity document to enter any public place”. Prime Minister Legault saw fit to agree with all those who demanded this measure.
I was wrong ! Certainly, my objective was noble: to relieve the population which was and still is on its knees, as demonstrated by the sometimes violent popular outbursts in Ottawa, Quebec City, Toronto, Winnipeg and several other major Canadian cities.
It is imperative that the population be united in the context of the pandemic. Mr. Legault himself wants to see social peace established. However, the requirement of proof of vaccination creates an opposition between the vaccinated and the non-vaccinated, and its effectiveness as an incentive measure for vaccination is marginal at best.
Since then, I have observed that the presentation of vaccine proof causes many problems and that the guidelines concerning this are illogical, arbitrary, inconsistent and difficult to apply by traders, including restaurants. Here are some of my observations:
1. Store employees are not required to be vaccinated, but their customers are. 2. Proof of vaccination is not required to circulate in the often very busy galleries of shopping centres, but must be presented to enter a large area, one of whose entrances leads to the shopping arcade. 3. Presentation of proof of vaccination is required to enter a business of 1,500 square meters or more, but not to enter a supermarket, the area of which is often larger and where there is more traffic. 4. Some vaccinated people no longer go to shops where proof of vaccination is required so as not to have to wait in line. 5. Merchants sometimes have to take insults from disgruntled customers. 6. Some traders do not check for vaccination proof even when offered to do so.
I could go on, but I believe that these few examples are enough to demonstrate that the requirement to present proof of vaccination is problematic, with no significant health gain demonstrated. In addition, it increases merchants’ expenses, reduces their traffic and therefore has an impact on their revenues and profitability.
Of course, there is no question of abandoning all sanitary measures, as some extremists demand.
Basic protective measures and barrier gestures will remain essential for months, perhaps years if vaccination is not extended to poor countries, as this encourages the emergence of new variants. Let’s think about wearing a mask, frequent hand disinfection, a two-metre distance, ventilation and the restriction of reception capacity in restaurants, shops and even certain outdoor places. My spouse and I would not go to a restaurant, a performance hall or a business unless we were able to maintain a distance of two meters and without adequate ventilation. Finally, let’s try to convince the unvaccinated without constraint, since we know that we will never convince everyone.