The Canadian province of Quebec this week implemented a requirement that people over the age of 12 present proof that they have taken two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to shop at large stores such as IKEA and Walmart.
According to information from CBC, Canada’s public communications company, the decree applies to stores with an area of 1,500 square meters or more, with the exception of grocery stores, pharmacies and gas stations. Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé said the goal is to get more people vaccinated.
The decree establishes an exception: people who are not fully vaccinated can shop at pharmacies located inside large stores, but with an employee accompanying them from the entrance to the exit of the establishment.
Businessmen interviewed by the CBC claimed that the measure creates problems for their businesses because it creates unequal competition with smaller stores (which do not have to follow the rule) and because of the costs it represents, since security guards and other employees will have to be hired to inspect proof of vaccination.
The chain of building materials stores Canac estimated that it will spend about 100 thousand Canadian dollars (more than R$ 420 thousand) per week to apply the measure in its 31 stores in Quebec.
The website True North pointed out that, although the Quebec government does not apply the grocery exception to stores like Walmart and Costco as it considers that they would not be the “main activity” of these retail chains, statistics point out that both are among the top three places where Canadians shop for groceries.
This month, the Quebec government had already established a requirement for proof of vaccination in stores that sell alcoholic beverages and marijuana and announced that it is considering charging a tax to people who refuse to take a vaccine against Covid-19 without medical justification. The provincial administration also intends to require a third dose soon so that vaccine passports remain valid.
Quebec Conservative Party leader Eric Duhaime criticized the measures taken by the provincial government on Twitter. “I say to all vaccinated people like me: let us not abandon the unvaccinated. Today they are the target of this incompetent government, tomorrow it will be us. All Quebecers must unite against this increasingly authoritarian government,” he wrote.
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