By Canadian Press

Quebec’s tax on the unvaccinated could enhance inequity: Black Health Alliance

Jan 11, 2022 | 1:43 PM

OTTAWA — The Black Health Alliance says Quebec’s proposal to bring in a financial penalty for unvaccinated residents risks further entrenching inequities in Canada’s pandemic response and eroding trust in the government.

Quebec Premier François Legault announced Tuesday the province is working on a health-care “contribution” that would be charged to all adults who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Provinces do not keep socioeconomic or race-based data about who has or hasn’t received a full slate of shots, but several health equity experts say there is evidence some have fallen through the cracks.

Black Health Alliance executive director Paul Bailey says the tax could punish people who have been hesitant to receive vaccines because of historic and present-day injustices, or face systemic barriers to accessing the vaccine. 

He suggests instead doubling down on proven measures of combating vaccine hesitancy by engaging with people in a culturally responsive way.

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He says a tax would only set those efforts backwards. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 11, 2022.

Laura Osman, The Canadian Press