A woman walks past a closed store in a shopping mall in Montreal on January 2.
Graham Hughes / Canadian Press via AP
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Graham Hughes / Canadian Press via AP
A woman walks past a closed store in a shopping mall in Montreal on January 2.
Graham Hughes / Canadian Press via AP
MONTREAL – The Premier of the French-speaking Canadian province of Quebec announced on Tuesday that adult residents who refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccine will be subject to financial penalties.
Premier Francois Legault said failing to get vaccinated would have consequences for the health care system and not all Quebec patients have to pay for it.
He said the tax would only apply to people who do not qualify for a medical exemption. This is the first time the Canadian government has announced financial penalties for people who refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
Legault said the amount of the fine has yet to be decided, but will be “significant.” Details will be released at a later date.
He said about 10% of adults in Quebec are unvaccinated, but they represent about 50% of intensive care patients.
“Those who refuse to take the first shots in the coming weeks will have to pay a new health contribution,” says Legault.
“Most are asking what the consequences will be. … It’s a question of fairness for the 90% of the population that died. We owe it to them.”
Quebec previously announced a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew. Officials say that will come as soon as things improve.
Quebec reports 62 more new coronavirus deaths, pushing the total number of COVID-19 deaths in the province to 12,028, the most in Canada.
In Greece, people over 60 have until January 16 to receive their first stabs or fined 100 euros ($113) for each month they are still unvaccinated. Last month, Austria’s health minister announced that the government plans to fine people up to 3,600 euros (about $4,000) for people using the coronavirus vaccine, which the country is required to introduce in February for all including residents 14 years of age and older.
