A group of workers from the non-profit community organization CARI St-Laurent is pounding the pavement in the borough going door to door to remind residents that COVID-19 still poses a high health threat and encouraging people to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
The message can’t be delivered fast enough.
The borough has the highest number of COVID-19 infections in the last 14 days on the Island of Montreal and the infection rate is the highest per capita according to the most recent data from Montreal Public Health.
‘We explain to them where they can go to have the vaccine because usually in the area of Saint-Laurent we have families from different cultures, so some of them don’t know French or English so we’re there to provide the information,” Éric Awounou, a worker at CARI St-Laurent, told Global News.
The brigade began its public awareness campaign in April and will continue its job until the end of June.
READ MORE: ‘We must vaccinate as many Quebecers as possible’: province turns to COVID-19 ads, mobile sites
Only 32 per cent of residents in Saint-Laurent have received at least one shot, while the average on the territory of the regional health authority is 35 per cent, according to a spokesperson from the CIUSSS Nord-de-l’île-de-Montréal.
More than 43 per cent of Quebecers have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, according to the most recent data from Quebec Public Health.
Saint-Laurent Borough Mayor Alan DeSousa said the objective is to get 75 per cent of the population vaccinated.
Two new pop-up vaccination clinics are opening this week.
Local officials just hope the efforts will pay off — that more people will get their first dose of the vaccine and coronavirus case numbers will start to drop.