COVID vaccine holdouts force Quebec to drop jab mandate for healthcare workers

Approximately 14,000 employees have refused to be pressured into getting the shot.

(LifeSiteNews) – Quebec’s Health Minister announced that his province will no longer mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for existing healthcare workers, fearing the policy would lead to a “devastating” staffing shortage.

On Wednesday, Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé said that the province is dropping its vaccine mandate for existing healthcare workers, explaining that the policy would lead to the suspension of thousands of workers and would devastate the already strained healthcare system.

“To deprive ourselves of 8,000 people [in health staff ranks] will have devastating consequences for our network,” Dubé said at a news conference.

This is the second time Dubé has had to change course with the province’s strict healthcare vaccine mandate. When the discriminatory measure was first announced, which required all healthcare workers to receive the experimental jab or be suspended without pay, the deadline was October 15. On October 13, Dubé extended the deadline to November 15.

“We find ourselves adding undue pressure on our network, and especially on the vaccinated health workers who have been at the front for months,” Dubé said in a press conference on Oct. 13.

“If we continue like this, we will run into a wall.”

According to Dubé, approximately 14,000 healthcare workers still remain unvaccinated despite his efforts to coerce them into receiving the experimental injections or be indefinitely suspended without pay.

The 14,000 workers represent a mere 3 percent of health sector employees, but with 5,000 of those workers having direct contact with patients, and as many as 600 being doctors, the province concluded that reversing the mandate is the only course of action to keep the system afloat.

Despite the negative toll the vaccine mandate would have on the province’s supply of medical professionals, Dubé is still insisting that all new hires must be vaccinated, and the remaining unvaccinated workers be subjected to testing three times a week.

full story at https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/quebec-drops-vaccine-mandate-for-healthcare-workers-fearing-staffing-shortage/