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.
A pop-up vaccination clinic will open in downtown Montreal this week and a telephone line will be set up and staffed by medical professionals to field calls from residents seeking information about the vaccines, junior health minister Lionel Carmant told reporters on Monday.
READ MORE: Quebec reopens stores on Sundays as province sets to expand COVID-19 passport this week
“It’s really 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.”
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.
READ MORE: Deaths and hospitalizations linked to COVID-19 decline in Quebec
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 Francois Legault, who has said that unvaccinated Quebec adults are significantly overrepresented in the province’s intensive care units.
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 says it administered 62,562 doses of COVID-19 vaccine on Sunday.
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