Quebec is backtracking on its enforced COVID-19 vaccination mandate for health-care workers, government officials announced Wednesday.
After pushing back its deadline multiple times, Health Minister Christian Dubé said the province will abandon the measure altogether, as the health-care network can’t afford to lose the thousands of non-vaccinated employees.
The loss of unvaccinated staff would have had a “devastating effect on the system,” according to the health ministry.
The province’s plan to suspend unvaccinated workers as of Nov. 15 would have forced the health network to cut services and would have compromised efforts to improve working conditions for all employees.
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While 97 per cent of those who work in the heath network are vaccinated, 14,000 haven’t received a first dose, and of those, 5,000 are in direct contact with patients.
While vaccination will no longer be mandatory for current employees, Dubé added that all new health-care hires will have to be vaccinated.
Unvaccinated staff will be obliged to get tested for COVID three times a week, and those who don’t comply will be suspended without pay.
The government had originally set an Oct. 15 deadline for all workers to be vaccinated but extended it in the hopes of convincing the remaining staff to get their shots.
More to come.
–with files from The Canadian Press
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