Nearly 530 Unvaccinated Quebec Health Care Workers Were Suspended In Recent Weeks

Even though Quebec decided to scrap mandatory vaccination for health care workers, there are still conditions unvaccinated employees in the sector must follow. Since Health Minister Christian Dubé announced a series of measures for staff who have not received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, 527 people have been suspended without pay, according to a recent Santé Quebec tweet.

In a press conference on November 3, Dubé said "vaccination of health care workers will no longer be mandatory for current employees of the network and will be mandatory for all new employees. Secondly, public health requires a very rigorous screening of all unvaccinated employees [...] three times a week."

On November 18, Santé Quebec tweeted that as of November 16, 329 people had refused screening tests and were therefore suspended without pay, which it said was an increase of 131 people compared to the previous week.

This means 198 Quebecers were suspended in the first week the new measures were implemented. With the 329 people suspended the next week, that adds up to a total of 527 fewer health care workers in two weeks.

Employees in the health network who are not vaccinated are not eligible to receive bonuses related to attraction and retention during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to figures provided by Dubé at the beginning of November, there are close to 14,000 health care workers who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Of them, 8,000 have yet to receive their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. This includes nearly 5,550 who are in direct contact with patients.

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.

Health Canada has a robust website with all the latest information on COVID-19 vaccines and can answer any questions you may have.