Greece Just Beat Quebec With A Plan To Fine The Unvaccinated & Here's How It Works

While Quebec is talking about rolling out a tax on the unvaccinated, Greece is way ahead of the game with a new law that fines certain people for dodging the vaccine.

The new law launched on Monday and it includes a monthly fine for anyone over the age of 60 who chooses to remain unvaccinated.

The first penalty for January will be 50 euros (CA$71) and that will be bumped up to 100 euros a month (CA$142) after that, reported ABC News.

The fines will be collected through tax offices, and the money will be used to fund the medical care system, according to Greece's health minister Thanos Plevris.

"The age factor is important because of its impact on the public health service," said Plevris.

Currently, 67% of Greece's population is fully vaccinated, but that hasn't stopped Omicron from ravaging the Greek health care system.

The decision was prompted after a massive surge in COVID cases hit Greece due to the Omicron variant.

On January 16, Greece reported 10,783 new cases, reported Euro News.

However, the new rule is not going over well with some citizens in Greece.

Some are complaining that they are trying to get vaccinated, but because of the country's vaccine shortage, they cannot get appointments early enough and are now being faced with a fine.

One Greek resident commented on the situation: "I booked an appointment on January 11 in order to get vaccinated, but authorities only offered me an appointment for January 31. Why didn't they give me an appointment earlier? It's not my fault, but now they say that I should pay a fine. Why?," as per Euro News.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis tweeted about the importance of people 60-plus getting vaccinated a few days before the mandate went into effect.

"Nine out of 10 citizens over the age of 60 have now been vaccinated," said a translation of the tweet.

"The few of our fellow citizens over 60 who remain unvaccinated, I encourage them today: take the step. Protect your life, the lives of those you love. The vaccine is safe and saves lives."

Given that Greece has the 7th oldest population in the world, the mandate is going to affect a lot of people.

The Quebec government has said that it wants to fine adults who do not have a first dose of the vaccine, although details of the plan have not been released.

Health Canada has a robust website with all the latest information on COVID-19 vaccines and can answer any questions you may have.