The vaccination center at the Palais des Congrès is in its last days. After 10 months of operation and more than 300,000 doses administered, the establishment will definitively close its doors on December 24, due to the expiration of its lease. A new center will open at the beginning of January, near the Berri-UQAM metro.
It was the CIUSSS du Center-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal which confirmed the news in a press release Thursday morning, stating that “the rental lease for the premises we were occupying was not expiring. could be renewed due to commitments to other organizations and events ”.
A series of activities, including the Montreal Auto Show, must indeed take place at the Palais des congrès in January. The CIUSSS specifies however “that alternatives were proposed”, but that these “unfortunately did not meet our needs”, in terms of space and access in particular.
“We are now elsewhere in the vaccination campaign”, also sums up the spokesperson for the CIUSSS, Jean-Nicolas Aubé, who recalls that the number of doses administered – which is much smaller than it has already been – can now be done on a more local scale.
Since the start of the campaign, the Palais des congrès has been one of the most important mass vaccination centers in Greater Montreal and Quebec. “We have given 300,000 doses since the start at the Palais des congrès. This is a gigantic figure and we are very proud of it, ”Mr. Aubé specifies on this subject.
Transition period
There are therefore only three weeks left to be vaccinated at the Palais des congrès, after which all appointments will be redirected to another vaccination center located nearby. Users receiving their first dose there in the coming days will also be redirected for the second dose, while people who already have an appointment after December 24 will be contacted individually. It is also possible to change your appointment in advance, on the Clic Santé platform.
To continue to meet demand, a new site will also see the light of day on January 7 at 965, boulevard de Maisonneuve Est, in a commercial building located 500 meters from the Berri-UQAM station. Up to 500 doses of vaccine can be administered there per day, according to preliminary forecasts by the authorities. In the meantime, it will remain possible to be vaccinated at the CLSC de la Visitation.
The CIUSSS also intends to take advantage of the closure of the Palais des congrès to “diversify its strategies” and go more “to meet people, wherever they are”.
Mobile teams will soon be sent to “strategic” places to offer vaccination for a few hours or a few days, as was the case during the playoffs around the Bell Center, in particular.