MONTREAL — The Quebec government says a new "positive approach" to persuade people to get their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine will complement the punitive measures so far imposed to increase vaccination rates.
But Quebecers shouldn't expect anything dramatically different, junior health minister Lionel Carmant told reporters Monday. "We want to use the same technique, intensify it, increase the visibility to have further success," Carmant said.
A pop-up vaccination clinic will open in downtown Montreal this week, while a telephone line will be set up and staffed by medical professionals to field calls from residents seeking information about the vaccines, he said.
"It's really an intensification of what has been done before," Carmant said in reference to a question about whether the government had any novel ideas to reach the roughly 540,000 Quebecers who so far have not had a single dose of vaccine.
The Health Department plans on opening more pop-up vaccine clinics across the province and on reaching unvaccinated residents through respected leaders and groups in their communities, he added.
What's different, Carmant explained, is the government's attitude to reaching the unvaccinated: "I think this is the step we're missing up to now: a positive approach."
Kim Lavoie, Canada Research Chair in behavioural medicine and psychology professor at Université du Québec à Montréal, welcomed the latest strategy, but she said the government can't "put all of their eggs in the vaccine basket."
"We are never going to get 100 per cent, and the government will never control that," Lavoie said.
"The government seems to have a vaccine-only get-out-of-the-pandemic strategy, and that's a mistake. The bigger problem is not first doses, but boosters. The rate is not going as quickly as it needs to."
Lavoie also questioned whether the government's "softer approach" would have the reverse effect on people who don't want to get vaccinated. Contradictory messages, she said, can make people more mistrustful.
The province hasn't shied away from using punitive means to get Quebecers to accept COVID-19 vaccines. Residents across the province must show proof of vaccination to enter restaurants, bars, gyms and entertainment venues — which have been closed since December to reduce COVID-19 transmission.
The vaccine passports have been extended to liquor and cannabis stores — which are open — and as of Monday they were required to visit big-box retail stores, such as Walmart and Costco. Quebec has also threatened to impose a "significant" tax on adults who reject the vaccine without a medical reason.
About 92 per cent of Quebec's population 12 and older has received at least one dose of vaccine. But that's not enough, according to Premier François Legault, who has said that unvaccinated Quebec adults are significantly overrepresented in the province's intensive care units.
Carmant, however, said the government isn't blaming the unvaccinated for the partial lockdown it imposed across the province.
“I think the message is not blaming — it’s protecting people who are not vaccinated because they are at higher risk of being sick, of being hospitalized,” Carmant said.
"They are not all against the vaccine or against sanitary measures," he said. "There are people who are afraid, hesitating, and also people from vulnerable and marginalized communities."
Carmant said the government's latest push to increase the rate of first doses will extend until March 31.
Quebec is also calling on health-care students for help. Carmant said the government has asked Université de Montréal's faculty of medicine for residents to fill various roles in the vaccination campaign.
Daniel Paré, head of the province's vaccination campaign, wouldn't say what neighbourhoods or regions in the province had fewer unvaccinated residents than others.
"Every region has its particularities," he told reporters.
Earlier Monday, Quebec reported 52 more COVID-19 deaths. The Health Department said hospitalizations related to COVID-19 rose by 16 compared with a day earlier, to 3,299, after 254 patients entered hospital and 238 were discharged.
The number of patients in intensive care dropped by 10, for a total of 263.
The province said it administered 62,562 doses of COVID-19 vaccine on Sunday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 24, 2022.
Virginie Ann, The Canadian Press
