Quebec, a Canadian province strongly affected by the Omicron wave, will implement in the coming weeks a new tax - called “
health contribution
” - which will only affect people not vaccinated against Covid-19.
"
We are working on a health contribution
" for "
all adults who refuse to be vaccinated
" because they represent "
a financial burden for all Quebecers
," Quebec Premier François Legault said on Tuesday.
According to him, the 10% of Quebecers who have not received any dose of vaccine to date should not “
harm
” the 90% who have been vaccinated.
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"
It is not for all Quebecers to pay for that
", he hammered during a press conference, specifying that the government of the French-speaking province wanted this to represent a "
significant amount
". "
I understand and I feel this discontent with regard to the unvaccinated minority which comes, all things considered, to clog our hospitals
", he added. The Quebec premier explained that these 10% of unvaccinated adults represented 50% of people in intensive care, citing a "
shocking
" situation.
In an attempt to stem the new wave, Quebec announced on December 30 the return of certain restrictions, including the 10 p.m. curfew and the ban on private gatherings.
In total, 2,742 people with Covid-19 are hospitalized in Quebec, which has about 8 million inhabitants and some 255 people are in intensive care.
Hospitalizations also continue to increase in Ontario, Canada's next and most populous province with 3,220 people hospitalized (+753 in 24 hours), as does the number of people in intensive care (477, +39).
