Will Quebec, Canada put a tax on no-vaxes?
Québec wants to charge a "health contribution" to adults who refuse to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. All the details
Québec, Canada's French-speaking province and the second most populous, intends to force adults who refuse coronavirus vaccination to pay a "health contribution" to offset the cost of any hospitalization and treatment.
The head of the local government, François Legault (center-right), said that the details of the proposal were still being finalized, but that all those who cannot get vaccinated for medical reasons will be exempt from the tax.
THE AMOUNT OF THE CONTRIBUTION
The health contribution proposed by the Quebec authorities is not known, but it seems that it will not be less than 100 Canadian dollars (approximately 79.50 US dollars).
A CONTROVERSE PROPOSAL
Québec's proposal is controversial, Reuters notes. Governments around the world have imposed movement restrictions on unvaccinated people and, in some cases, imposed fines. But a tax on all adults who refuse the vaccine, theoretically justified by the context of the health emergency, could be challenged in court. Everything will depend – Professor Carolyn Ells of McGill University in Canada explained to the agency – on the details of the standard.
THE QUÉBEC IN CRISIS
Québec is one of the Canadian provinces with the highest number of cases of coronavirus infection, due to the high transmissibility of the omicron variant. The local health system is under stress: some health workers must continue to work even if positive for the coronavirus to avoid staff shortages.
"THE VACCINE IS THE KEY"
Prime Minister Legault said that “the vaccine is the key to fighting the virus. This is why we are considering a health contribution for adults who refuse to be vaccinated for non-medical reasons ”.
Unvaccinated Quebecers are about 10 percent of the total population, but they are 50 percent of patients admitted to intensive care.
THIRD AND FOURTH DOSE?
Nationwide, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government has secured enough vaccine doses to proceed with boosters and possibly a fourth dose.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/quebec-contributo-sanitario-rifiuto-vaccini/ on Wed, 12 Jan 2022 10:16:32 +0000.