Clinical screening | QS calls for expanded testing for seniors

(Québec) The elderly, the chronically ill and vulnerable populations must be added to the list of priority groups eligible for clinical screening tests, claims Québec solidaire. A request supported by the Quebec Association for the Defense of the Rights of Retired and Pre-retired Persons (AQDR).

Fanny Levesque
The Press

Faced with the Omicron tsunami, the Legault government tightened access to screening clinics, favoring the use of rapid screening tests for the general population. For the time being, health care workers, teachers, users living in care and residential settings, First Nations members and homeless clients are eligible.

This access must be broadened, argues Québec solidaire. To seniors more broadly, but also to people who are immunosuppressed or suffering from chronic illnesses and vulnerable people. Health spokesperson Vincent Marissal points to the still difficult access to rapid tests in Quebec. These tests can also be complicated to use for a senior or a sick person.

“Sometimes they need help. Elderly people alone, not only in CHSLDs, but also in HLMs, we know plenty of them. People who physically can’t do a quick test. […] There are also many people who are deprived and on the margins of society. It may sound silly, but you also have to know how to read to understand the instructions. It is absolutely necessary that we give priority to these people, ”he illustrates.

In addition, going out to get your hands on a quick box in a pharmacy “multiplies” contacts for these already vulnerable populations, underlines the supportive deputy.

The AQDR deplored in early January that seniors were “once again, the big forgotten” government priorities in the context of the pandemic. The association calls for the extension of PCR tests to people aged 65 and over, which Quebec solidaire also supports.

“The climate is unstable and accentuates the already well-established gloom among our seniors. I understand that decisions need to be made quickly and regularly. The decision to prioritize seniors should always be a natural reflex for the government. The first wave is enough to remind us of what our elders have gone through, ”said President Judith Gagnon in a press release.

The acting national director of public health, Dr.^r Luc Boileau indicated that a review of the groups eligible for PCR tests was underway to “add other clienteles” if traffic remains down.

“You also have to remember that all these PCR tests go through the laboratories and people have a lot of work to do in the hospital context right now. We must therefore take that also into consideration, but we are moving forward and we will eventually arrive with different formulas, ”said the D^r Boileau.