In addition to ending the curfew, the Quebec government could announce on Thursday the extension of the vaccination passport requirement to non-essential large-area businesses, learned The duty.
Three sources indicated that businesses of 1,500 square meters and more are currently targeted by a scenario that would only allow fully vaccinated customers to have access to them.
This new measure, which could be announced Thursday afternoon, would be in addition to the decision to end the curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. introduced during the holidays to counter the wave of contamination with the Omicron variant.
From Monday, traffic restrictions during these hours would again be permitted, it was confirmed. This decision, which would have received the approval of public health, would be taken because of the approach of the peak of hospitalization, which would make the curfew useless because of the reduction in the feared risks of contamination.
The extension of the vaccine passport to supermarkets would not target grocery stores, pharmacies and gas stations.
So far exempted, hardware stores could however be added to businesses that must check the vaccination status of their customers. However, this expansion would not apply to neighborhood hardware stores whose dimensions are below the 1,500 square meter mark, the equivalent of 16,000 square feet.
Several questions remain as to how to check the vaccination status at the entrance to supermarkets. In addition to labor issues, for businesses, the technological dimension is also a problem.
Currently two vaccine doses are required to have a valid passport. The Minister of Health Christian Dubé has already indicated his intention to raise this threshold to three doses when possible.
Prime Minister François Legault called a press conference on Thursday afternoon to take stock of the management of the pandemic.