Quebec health officials announce first-dose plan for the unvaccinated
In a Monday press conference Dr. Lionel Carmant, Quebec’s deputy health minister, outlined the province’s upcoming first-dose strategy for the unvaccinated.
The new strategy involves the opening of a pop-up clinic at the CLSC in downtown Montreal on January 28, along with additional pop-up clinics in the coming weeks.
Stratégie pour rejoindre les non-vaccinés 💉
Nous allons intensifier nos efforts afin de mettre en place des actions adaptées dans les quartiers à faible taux de vaccination, afin de rejoindre le + de gens possible.
Chaque dose donnée, c’est un pas dans la bonne direction! 💪🏾 pic.twitter.com/nhjbRH1RKb
— Lionel Carmant (@CarmantLionel) January 24, 2022
Carmant also announced the launch of a new phone line aimed at answering the questions of those who are hesitant to receive a vaccine.
While over 92% of Quebec’s adult population are vaccinated, Carmant says that “marginalized” and “vulnerable” groups are among the 8% who have not gotten the first dose. “Every dose given is going to be a little victory for me.”
The health minister said that past instances of pop-up clinics in the province have worked, citing that Quebec went from approximately 1.2 million unvaccinated to 600,000 after they were implemented.
Carmant called this heightened vaccination effort aimed at those who have not received their first or second doses an “intensification of what has been done before.”
Premier Francois Legault announced on January 11 that the government wants to impose a “significant” financial penalty on the “small minority” of Quebecers who refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccine.