Although the Canadian Minister of Public Safety, Bill Blair, announced Monday morning on Twitter that “Canadian Armed Forces personnel will begin their deployment today to support the vaccination campaign” in Quebec, the troops are not there. will really hitch that in a few days.
“Our reconnaissance teams are carrying out an assessment of the current situation in order to identify specific needs. When the reconnaissance is completed, we will be able to deploy the appropriate number of soldiers to the locations targeted by the province ”, specified the Ministry of Defense by email.
Familiarization sessions for soldiers who will be assigned to the vaccination campaign could begin “as early as tomorrow”, ie Tuesday. They will be able to fulfill logistical tasks such as welcoming visitors and disinfecting surfaces.
The Department of Health and Social Services confirmed by email Monday afternoon that “we are currently working in collaboration with the Canadian Armed Forces on an assessment of the deployment. [nombre, sites, etc.]. The vaccination sites selected and the deployment dates will be determined once this assessment is completed. “
The story is the same on the side of the office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Security of Quebec, Geneviève Guilbault. In writing, it was said to be “confident that the personnel of the Armed Forces will be able to help our vaccination operations in the coming days”.
The great comeback of the military
On December 21, Deputy Prime Minister Guilbault announced on Twitter that she “officially asked the federal government for assistance from [Forces canadiennes] “To” contribute to mass vaccination “, to which Minister Blair replied that Ottawa would work with Quebec in this direction.
During the first wave of the pandemic, more than a thousand members of the Armed Forces had been deployed in the CHSLDs of the province, which had become deadly due to the spread of the virus and the lack of personnel, while many workers from health were getting sick.
During the inquest of coroner Géhane Kamel on COVID-19 in a CHSLD, several witnesses affirmed that the arrival of the soldiers represented a great breath of fresh air for the workers at the end of their rope.
Vacation and part-time
Meanwhile, several healthcare establishments are preparing to suspend certain provisions of collective agreements so as not to be engulfed by the Omicron wave.
“Many establishments have filed plans under [l’arrêté] 2020-007 ”, the MSSS confirmed in writing on Monday.
This provision was created in March 2020 by then Minister of Health Danielle McCann, shortly after the health emergency was declared. It allows, among other things “the cancellation of vacation”, “a temporary displacement” of employees to tasks that are not theirs, to extend the working day to 12 hours and to give part-time employees a week. of work “equivalent to the number of hours of a full-time employee”.
The MSSS did not specify which establishments are concerned or which items will be used, but reiterated that this decree “is a measure of last resort, in very critical places which have a high level of load shedding”.
Hospitals in the Montreal and Capitale-Nationale regions are particularly affected by the Omicron wave, it was mentioned.
This article was produced with financial support from the Facebook and The Canadian Press News Scholarships.