Unlike the vaccination operations undertaken in CHSLDs in Quebec and Montreal, the regions of Estrie and Montérégie have chosen to prioritize other places to vaccinate first-line healthcare staff.
In a statement released Thursday morning, the Minister of Health and Social Services, Christian Dubé, announced that 21 new vaccination sites will join the inoculation operation against COVID-19 as of Monday.
The Minister emphasizes that all the sites were chosen “in order to maximize the vaccination of priority groups”. However, unlike the prioritization strategy of the Committee on Immunization of Quebec, it seems easier in certain regions to vaccinate health personnel rather than residents in CHSLDs.
Due to the constraints related to the format of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine dose boxes, healthcare establishments must administer 975 doses of vaccine in one place. Once the doses have thawed, Pfizer requests that the vaccine not be moved due to uncertainties over its effectiveness if it experiences movement.
The catch is that there are few or no long-term care homes with 975 people, residents and staff included.
In Estrie, the vaccination will take place at the Center de foires de Sherbrooke. The CIUSSS de l’Estrie-CHUS confirmed in the afternoon that it had chosen to vaccinate the staff first, “including students and doctors, who work in long-term care centers”. We are talking about any staff member in contact with residents and not administrative staff.
On Monday, the regional director of public health, Dr Alain Poirier, did not want to confirm that his region would go ahead with this strategy, but acknowledged that several scenarios were being considered due to the impossibility of moving the vaccine.
In Estrie, most CHSLDs have less than a hundred residents and the largest establishments have barely more than 200.
In the case of Montérégie, the two locations identified are not residential and long-term care centers (CHSLD) either. We preferred to settle at the Pavillon la COOP, in Saint-Hyacinthe, and the Quartier Dix30 vaccination clinic, in Brossard.
The Canadian Press learned earlier this week that vaccination at Pavillon La Coop will be reserved for health personnel and not accessible to the public.
It was not possible to obtain an explanation from the Montérégie public health department despite our repeated requests.
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