Montreal/Ottawa. Christian Dubey says, earlier 80 percent of vaccinations were still comparatively easy. “The hard part is really getting the last 20 percent.” Dubey is health minister in Quebec, one of Canada’s showcase provinces, in the fight against Covid-19. Following its vaccination campaign, which has been successful so far, Canada now has to get creative to get the pandemic behind it, he explains. And indeed, days after the interview, the government in Ottawa is taking measures that so far seem impossible in Germany.
Specifically, this means that anyone who wants to travel to Canada in the future will usually soon have problems without vaccinations. “If you are twelve or older and want to fly or take the train, you must be fully vaccinated by the end of November,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. “This is not the time for half measures.”
Only three out of four people vaccinated
In fact, Canada is in the top group worldwide, As far as his vaccination rate is concerned – The United Arab Emirates lags behind relatively smaller states such as Portugal, Malta, Singapore or Qatar. In the world’s second largest country – with an area 28 times the size of Germany – nearly three in four people now have full protection. It is also 85 percent for people over the age of twelve. Significantly more than in the Federal Republic.
And Ottawa is going even further to increase quotas: In the future, public service workers, including police officers, as well as transportation sector workers, will have received a vaccine. At least civil servants would otherwise be relieved from work from mid-November and would no longer be paid. Proof of vaccination is already mandatory in bars and restaurants in most areas of the country.
Canada’s liberal government is taking action in the face of the delta version that is spreading, where other countries are still struggling. It is also due to the fact that Trudeau – whose minority government was recently confirmed with mediocre results in new elections – can count on population-wide support for vaccinations. An August poll showed that the majority of Canadians fully or partially support compulsory vaccination.
A special sense of community?
While efforts are being made with mixed success to run up meager quotas in the neighboring United States, Canadians have been queuing at the convention center in the metropolis of Montreal – even on Monday mornings. Most of the visitors who come here are between the ages of 20 and 30 and are getting their second dose today.
“A lot of students from abroad also come here,” says the local manager. We give vaccines to everyone, not just Canadians.” In September, 500 people were being vaccinated daily here. Not as many as before, but the crowd is still quite high compared to many other cross-border stations.
Health Minister Christian Dubey believes a special sense of community in diverse Canada and the province of Quebec will contribute to the success. “We have gone through tremendous hardships for centuries in front of our ice and many other things. Hard times hold Quebecers together.” (dpa)
