Quebec is planning a special tax for unvaccinated adults they’re calling a “health contribution.”
QUICK FACTS:
- Canada’s second-most densely populated province, Quebec, is forcing unvaccinated adults to pay the price of a special fee that will go toward the public healthcare program used by the nation, according to Reuters.
- The local leadership did no release details regarding the actual total, but it has been called a “significant” amount, with the idea that the unvaccinated put a proportionately larger burden on the public healthcare system.
- Premier Francois Legault said on Tuesday that the strain his and other provinces believe they have been burdened with by the unvaccinated has made them one of the worst-hit areas in the nation.
- While those who have not yet gotten their COVID-19 vaccination are being blamed for the crisis of health in the Canadian province, data suggests that most of the new coronavirus patients are fully vaccinated.
- CTV News Montreal reported that of the 433 patients who were hospitalized in Quebec at the time of the article was written, 117 were unvaccinated, 290 were double-vaccinated, and 13 were single-vaccinated.
WHAT LOCAL OFFICIALS ARE SAYING:
- “The vaccine is the key to fight the virus. This is why we’re looking for a health contribution for adults who refuse to be vaccinated for non-medical reasons,” Legault said.
- “Right now, it’s a question also of fairness for the 90% of the population who made some sacrifices,” the premier told reporters in response to a question about Canadians paying for healthcare, according to RT. “I think we owe them this kind of measure.”
- When asked about potential legal challenges for his upcoming fee, Legault said, “If you look at what’s happening in other countries or other states, everybody is trying to find a solution. It’s a question of equity because right now, these people, they put a very important burden on our health care network, and I think it’s normal that the majority of the population is asking that there be a consequence.”
BACKGROUND:
- In the province of Quebec, 6,500,494 people are double-vaccinated, 1,091,323 are unvaccinated, 553,654 people have received one dose of vaccine, according to CTV.
- Of the 758,567 reported cases of the novel coronavirus reported since the start of the pandemic, 646,100 have fully recovered, to date.
