Canada’s Federal Minister of Health Jean-Yves Duclos announced provinces are likely to soon introduce mandatory vaccination policies to deal with surging COVID-19 cases..“What we see now is that our health care system in Canada is fragile, our people are tired, and the only way we know to get through COVID-19, this variant and any future variant, is through vaccination,” Duclos said on Friday, during a news conference..Duclos said based on his “personal understanding of what we see internationally and domestically” and the conversations he’s had with health ministers across the country over the last few weeks, he believes discussions around mandatory vaccination policies will be coming in the near future..“50% of hospitalizations in Quebec are due to people not having been vaccinated,” said Duclos..“That’s a burden on health care workers, a burden on society which is very difficult to bear and for many people difficult to understand..“That’s why I’m signalling this is a conversation which I believe provinces and territories, in support with the federal government, will want to have over the next weeks and months.”.Duclos said rapid tests, masking and social distancing are effective tools, but believes vaccination remains the only way out of the pandemic..He also indicated it would be up to each province to decide to implement mandatory vaccination policies..Melanie Risdon is a reporter with the Western Standard.,.mrisdon@westernstandardonline.com
