Some Quebec construction workers may find themselves rushing to get the jab this week.

As of Oct. 15, all workers stationed at construction sites near or inside a health-care establishment will have to be fully vaccinated. It will be up to contractors to ensure that their staff are adequately protected against COVID-19.

Mario Boucher, president of Symaco in Quebec City, said he expects complications with implementing the measure.

“We’re lucky, at our company, 95 per cent of people are vaccinated,” he said. “But our subcontractors might not have the same percentage.”

The measure, adopted by decree on Sept. 24, only applies to work sites where employees could be in contact with health-care workers, administrative staff, visitors and patients.

Boucher and his team of about 20 employees are currently undertaking projects in several hospitals in the Capitale-Nationale (Saint-Sacrement, Saint-François-d’Assise and the Quebec Heart and Lung Institute Research Centre).

“Of course, one morning, we could be asking for five painters and only three will show up,” he said.

Work on new construction projects won’t be taken into account.

Mobile vaccination clinics

The province will also be sending mobile vaccination clinics to construction sites to accommodate workers.

Quebec Labour Minister Jean Boulet says making vaccines mandatory for workers is a recommendation from public health.

“At this point in the evolution of the pandemic we really need to protect our healthcare environments,” he said. “This is for the benefit of the entire Quebec population.”

Double vaccination for construction workers will be required until further notice, Boulet said.

For Guillaume Houle, spokesperson for the Association de la construction du Québec, having construction workers get vaccinated is logical because health-care staff could infect them and vice versa.

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