Quebec's Vaccine Passport Will Soon Be Mandatory For Even More Businesses

Quebec's vaccine passport will be mandatory for more businesses in the near future. With the province reeling under the Omicron wave, Health Minister Christian Dubé made it clear at a press conference on Thursday that the vaccination passport will soon become mandatory for more unspecified "non-essential" commercial businesses.

"The vaccination passport will be mandatory as of January 18 to access the SAQ and the SQDC. Moreover, the vaccination passport will be extended to non-essential commerces in the coming weeks," said Dubé.

The health minister said that there's not yet a list of what businesses will be affected, but that health experts are reviewing the matter and will reveal the list of businesses soon.

There are several upcoming changes to the vaccination passport system that you need to be aware of. In addition to it being mandatory at the SAQ and the SQDC as of January 18, the government announced that eventually the vaccine passport will be updated to include the third dose.

"Right now, a vaccine passport is valid with two doses," said Dubé. "We haven't determined the date because we can't ask people to meet the requirements when they haven't had the chance to be vaccinated, but we will expand the vaccine passport to three doses."

Referencing the displeasure of the unvaccinated, Dubé said that "there's a very simple solution: it's to get vaccinated. It's free and it will protect you from the disease."

According to government statistics from January 5, 82% of Quebecers aged 5 and older have received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, while only 20% have received a third dose.

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