Quebec’s cannabis, liquor stores to require coronavirus vaccination proof

Quebec will require people to show proof of coronavirus vaccination when entering government-run stores selling cannabis or alcohol, the region’s health minister, Christian Dubé, said Thursday, as part of broader efforts to reduce covid-19 patients in the province.

The move comes as Quebec, like other population centers in Canada and the United States, is seeing case counts rise rapidly. And though the province’s vaccination rate is near 80 percent — one of the world’s highest — hospitalizations are spiking, especially among the unvaccinated, and threatening to overwhelm hospitals, officials said.