COVID-19: Quebec premier drops plan to tax people who are unvaccinated | Globalnews.ca

Quebec is dropping plans to impose a financial penalty on those who are unvaccinated against COVID-19.

Premier François Legault made the announcement Tuesday afternoon in Quebec City, during a briefing on the ongoing health crisis.

While the premier said the bill drawn up by the finance minister was ready to be tabled he admitted the project was divisive and polarizing.

“It’s time to rebuild bridges between Quebecers,” he said in French. “It’s time to work together … so that Quebec remains a place where it is good to live.”

Plans for the tax were first brought to the table on Jan. 11, as pandemic-related hospitalizations fueled by a surge in cases linked to the Omicron variant threatened to overwhelm an already strained health network.

At the time, Legault said the tax was under consideration due to the burden those who were unvaccinated were having on the health-care system.

He stated that while only 10 per cent of the eligible population was unvaccinated, they accounted for 50 per cent of hospitalizations.

… More to come