Ontario not to follow Quebec's proposal of taxing the unvaccinated: Premier Doug Ford

“We aren’t going down that road,” Ford said. “But I implore, I ask, I beg — every single person that’s not vaccinated, please, protect yourself, protect your family, protect co-workers. Please, get your vaccination.”

Ontario chief medical officer Dr. Kieran Moore also said in a news conference that he would not recommend such a tax to Ford’s government.

“It does, in my mind, seem punitive,” Dr. Moore said. “Only in the highest-risk settings have we mandated it, and that was in the long-term care facilities where all of us have realized the increased death rate, the increased risk of severe outcomes [of COVID-19] had to be balanced by maximizing immunization and protection of those individuals.”

“That is as far as this government has gone in terms of mandating vaccination and putting a penalty on those who have not been vaccinated has not been entertained by this government,” Moore said.

Quebec Premier François Legault made the surprise announcement on Jan 11 that his Coalition Avenir Québec government would impose a Health tax on unvaccinated people in the province who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

The process of paying the Health tax, Legault said, would be similar to drug-insurance coverage that some Quebecers pay at the time of filing their annual taxes.

The Quebec government's consultation is ongoing with the finance minister and its legal advisers about implementing the measure.

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)