Thousands of people have requested the first dose of the vaccine against COVID-19 in Quebec (Canada), after the provincial authorities announced that they are considering imposing a special tax on those who are not immunized.
Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé tweeted on Wednesday that appointments for first doses continue to rise and that after adding about 5,000 on Monday, the number rose to 7,000 on Tuesday, the highest in recent days.
On Tuesday alone, Quebec administered 107,000 doses of the vaccines.
On Tuesday, the provincial prime minister, Francois Legault, announced that he is considering imposing a special “significant” tax on those who are not vaccinated, due to the cost that their treatment implies for the health system if they become infected with COVID-19.
According to Legault, 50% of the people admitted to hospitals in the province for COVID-19 are patients who are not vaccinated and it is not fair that the whole of society pays the cost of their decision not to be immunized.
The proposal comes at a time when Canada’s healthcare system is saturated with the sharp increase in COVID-19 cases due to the omicron variant, and the country’s hospitals are experiencing difficulties treating all patients.
The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin trudeau, was reluctant on Wednesday to support the Quebec measure, although he did not criticize it either.
During a press conference in Ottawa, Trudeau declared that he had received the Québec proposal “with interest”, but that he needed to have more details to give his opinion.
The Canadian prime minister added that federal authorities have already implemented “tough measures” to encourage vaccination of Canadians, such as prohibiting the unimmunized from traveling by plane or train, or forcing all federal officials to receive the vaccines.
Organizations working with minorities have warned that Quebec’s proposal may increase inequalities in the face of the pandemic and disproportionately affect people of color or indigenous people.
For its part, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association called the measure “divisive” and noted that it may be unconstitutional.
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