Quebec health officials announced on Thursday that people who wish to purchase cannabis or alcohol from government-owned stores must have the COVID-19 vaccine, prompting a spike in vaccination appointments.
Residents will be required to present a vaccine passport to go into Société des alcools du Québec and the Société québécoise du cannabis stores starting Jan. 18, according to a press release.
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“We are aware that all the sacrifices asked of Quebeckers are not easy, but they are necessary, and I thank the population for their collaboration,” said Christian Dubé, minister of health and social services, in the release.
“We must do everything to limit the impact on our staff and our very fragile health system,” Dubé continued. “We must therefore reduce the number of cases and limit hospitalizations as much as possible. I am counting on all of you to be extremely vigilant over the next few weeks, and to protect yourself from the booster dose as soon as it becomes available.”
Officials rolled out the new mandate amid rising COVID-19 cases in the Canadian province.
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Dubé tweeted on Friday that the new measure was already proving very effective at driving more citizens to get the vaccine.
“In just a few days, the appointments for the 1st dose went from 1.5K per day to over 6K yesterday,” read the tweet, translated from French. “Thank you to everyone who decided to get vaccinated. It is not too late to receive your 1st dose. Protect yourself.”
En quelques jours seulement, les prises de rendez-vous pour la 1ère dose sont passées de 1,5K par jour à plus de 6K hier. Merci à tous ceux qui ont décidé de se faire vacciner. Il n’est pas trop tard pour recevoir sa 1ère dose. Protégez-vous.
https://t.co/LvEIaqn80x— Christian Dubé (@cdube_sante) January 7, 2022
