One Canadian province has found an interesting way around vaccine hesitancy.

After announcing that you’d need a vaccine passport to go into provincial liquor and cannabis stores, appointments for first-dose COVID-19 vaccines skyrocketed.

In a Friday, January 7 retweet of a La Presse article from Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé, the increase was clear.

En quelques jours seulement, les prises de rendez-vous pour la 1ère dose sont passées de 1,5K par jour à plus de 6K hier. Merci à tous ceux qui ont décidé de se faire vacciner. Il n’est pas trop tard pour recevoir sa 1ère dose. Protégez-vous.
https://t.co/LvEIaqn80x

— Christian Dubé (@cdube_sante) January 7, 2022

According to Dubé, in just a matter of days, appointments for first doses of COVID-19 vaccines quadrupled from 1,500 per day to 6,000.

The minister thanked everyone who made the decision to get vaccinated, saying that it’s not too late to get your first dose. “Protégez-vous,” he said.

The surge in first-dose vaccine appointments comes after an announcement on Thursday, January 6 where Quebec announced it would be expanding its vaccine passport requirements.

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Starting on Tuesday, January 18, they’ll be required to enter Quebec’s liquor and cannabis stores – Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ) and Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC.)

À la suite de l’annonce du gouvernement du Québec, il sera obligatoire pour les clients de la SAQ de présenter le passeport vaccinal pour accéder à nos succursales dès le 18 janvier. Veuillez noter qu’il est possible de commander en ligne en optant pour la livraison à domicile. pic.twitter.com/FYpnsbJ6hA

— lasaq_officiel (@LaSAQ_officiel) January 6, 2022

Suite aux plus récentes annonces du gouvernement du Québec, le passeport vaccinal sera implanté dans l’ensemble des succursales SQDC à compter du 18 janvier prochain. Pour tous les détails, consultez notre site Web : https://t.co/tIpRXbV8lh pic.twitter.com/NS6mK1R18F

— La_SQDC (@La_SQDC) January 6, 2022

One can still order delivery from SAQ without a vaccine passport, but now you’ll need one to go inside.

On Friday, the Ministère de la Santé et des Services Sociaux reported 16,176 new COVID-19 cases in Quebec. Now, Quebec citizens 45-years-old and older can book their appointment for a COVID-19 booster shot.

With files from Tyler Jadah.