- Starting September 1, Canadians who want to dine in a restaurant, go to a bar or gym, or participate in Quebec festivals must present a vaccine passport.
- The province will be the first in Canada to require such a pass, which is increasingly used worldwide to restrict vaccinated people from entering public places.
- They have also caused great controversy in certain jurisdictions, leading to large-scale protests against mandatory vaccination.
Officials announced on Tuesday that from September 1st, Canadians who want to dine in restaurants, go to bars or gyms, or attend the Quebec Music Festival must present a vaccine passport.
The province will be the first province in Canada to require such a pass, which is increasingly used worldwide to restrict people who have been vaccinated, recovered from Covid-19, or tested negative from entering public places.
They have also caused great controversy in certain jurisdictions, leading to large-scale protests against mandatory vaccination.
Quebec’s Minister of Health, Christian Dube, said at a press conference: “Our goal in holding passports is not to go back to lockdown and to avoid overloading our hospitals.”
Health officials warned that although more than 60% of the Canadian population was vaccinated, the Covid-19 infection rate has risen again after the plunge in June and July.
The Quebec government will clarify in the coming weeks which public places will be obliged to request vaccine passports in paper or electronic format.
New York was the first US city to announce the introduction of vaccine passes in public places last week.
Quebec is the second most populous province in Canada, after Ontario, with 234 new Covid-19 cases recorded on Tuesday.
Approximately 84% of Quebecers received the first dose of the vaccine, and 70% were fully vaccinated.
Dube warned that the fourth wave of Covid-19 infections caused by the more contagious Delta variant in the fall is “inevitable”.
So far, one-third of Covid-19 cases in Quebec are caused by the Delta variant, but the minister expects to increase to 50% “in the coming weeks.”
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