The centers refuse to give the third dose

Quebecers who planned to travel in the coming months were denied an “extra dose” of the vaccine, even though the government had allowed it.

“I was told I should get a plane ticket to show I had an imminent departure to get my extra doses,” said Jacques Perrier, who was planning to leave the country in a few weeks.

The man wanted to avoid a nasty surprise, like that of a couple who made headlines after being banned from a cruise due to receiving mixed vaccinations. After receiving two different vaccinations, Mr. Perrier went to the Blanville Vaccination Center where he faced an apparent refusal on Saturday.

“Doesn’t make any sense! I won’t buy a plane ticket without being able to leave!” he said.

However, the Department of Health said Friday that no evidence is required to obtain this extra dose.

This other dose “may be given to any person whose vaccination has not been recognized in the country to which he is heading”, upon request.

• Listen to Danny Saint-Pierre’s interview with virologist Benoit Barbeau on QUB Radio:

like an alien

A similar situation arose near Quebec this weekend when Melanie Gilbert tried to get a third dose of the vaccine on her trip to Mexico this winter.

Then the staff of Biscuit Leclerc’s vaccination center in Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures seemed “totally helpless”.

“He looked at me like I was a foreigner. I was told we don’t do that here, and that my flight, anyway, wasn’t imminent enough,” says the person who got the two mismatched doses.

Note that the Ministry of Health recommends not ordering this other dose for too long “because the situation can change quickly”. However, there is no maximum time limit to be observed.

incoherence

When contacted about this matter, CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale said it is adapting to this new directive and assures that it will be implemented quickly across its site.

Even if the government gave its approval on Friday, and CISSS and CIUSSS received official guidance from the national public health on Saturday afternoon, we are standing up for ourselves.

“It’s annoying! Every time there has been a change in public health since the beginning of the crisis, it always takes a long time to get into the field,” Ms Gilbert laments.

The collapse and skepticism of the Lotto vaccine

Experts say the vaccine lottery won’t have much real impact on the province’s vaccine coverage as opposed to imposing restrictions on the rebel.

Competition « Get vaccinated “,” Created by the Legault government in hopes of increasing vaccination coverage, the caps started yesterday morning.

Unable to register

Traffic was so great that the site, overburdened, was out of use in the morning. But this is not necessarily a guarantee of success, according to Alain Lamarie, professor of immunology and virology at the National Institute of Scientific Research.

“Anyone who has been vaccinated can register, not just those who have just made up their mind. One chance in 80% of the county is not a huge incentive and I am certainly not the only one doing that calculation,” he says.

This is what was observed Newspaper At the vaccination site at the Center de Voire de Quebec yesterday. Of the fifty or so people he met, only one confirmed taking his second dose earlier due to the “lottery virus”.

Competition can tip the scales for a few people, explains Mr. Lamarie, but it will take more to convince the hardliners.

“The best that could work would be if there was a real benefit to vaccination. Without blocking access to certain places, it would be difficult for the unvaccinated to get there. By obligating you to get tested beforehand, for example,” he suggests.

In the same view as Mr. Lamarie, retired virologist Jacques Lapierre believes that imposing some kind of vaccination passport is inevitable, if the government is to reach its goal.

“Competitions of this kind, especially in the United States, have not produced really convincing results. If the carrot does not work, you will have to take out the stick no matter how thin,” says Dr. Lapierre.

► Prizes worth $150,000 will be drawn every Friday in August for those who have received a dose and a grand prize of $1 million will be awarded to those fully vaccinated on September 3. Scholarships worth $10,000, or $20,000 to win the grand prize, will be awarded to vaccinated teens.

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