It makes the birds laugh, it makes the bees sing, it drives away the clouds and makes the sun shine… ”On this Monday morning, the famous song of La Compagnie Creole resonates in the small gymnasium of Saint-Marc elementary school, in Montreal. In the shade of basketball hoops, between thick gymnastic mats acting as screens, nurses happily vaccinate students from kindergarten to sixth grade.
Balloons in the shape of animals, juice boxes, candies, tights… The vaccination operation takes on a festive air. The students of Saint-Marc school even got a visit from Preti, a Mira dog trained to support people suffering from anxiety. Eline Proslier, 7, stroked her, once vaccinated. “It doesn’t hurt,” says the second-grader. Sitting on a wooden bench in the gymnasium, she puts the stamp of her choice on her “courageous child’s diploma”.
About 240 of the 538 students at Saint-Marc school were to be vaccinated on Monday. This is the first day of vaccination at the Center de services scolaire de Montréal, organized by the CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal. The health facility has already held sessions on Friday in two schools in the Pointe-de-l’Île School Service Center. Mobile clinics will be set up in each school in the territory, assures the CIUSSS.
“Braver than you might think”
“Things are going really well, the children are not crying,” says Marie-Claude Bédard, head of administration of the school health and dental hygiene programs. They are a lot braver than you might think. “
Many kindergarten students were vaccinated during the passage of To have to at Saint-Marc school. However, two of them refused, despite the reassuring words of the nurses, the intervention of Preti and the presence of their teacher. “When there is nothing to do, we notify the parents,” said director Sylvain Cléroux. We are not forcing anyone. “
However, Preti manages to do “little miracles”, according to Léa Marie George, a psychoeducator from the CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal who accompanies the animal. She cites an example of an 11-year-old girl with a phobic of needles who literally grabbed the dog’s fur during her vaccination at Olympic Stadium.
The 4-year-old, who usually works with adults, didn’t flinch. “She is patient,” says Léa Marie George. She really likes that, children. “
Many parents want their child to be vaccinated against COVID-19. At a press briefing Monday, the Minister of Health and Social Services, Christian Dubé, stressed that a third of children aged 5 to 11, or about 200,000, had been vaccinated or had an appointment to obtain a first dose.
Everywhere from next week
As of next week, school vaccination will really get under way across Quebec, according to the Quebec Federation of School Directions. “Some schools have started,” says its president, Nicolas Prévost. But the majority is next week. He recalls that parents must send the consent document to the directors before the vaccine operations begin.
At the Alliance of Professors of Montreal, it is hard to understand why some Montreal CIUSSSs are able to offer vaccination in all schools in their territory and others are not. “Our little ones feel confident at school,” recalls its president, Kathleen Legault. Access to vaccination is promoted when it is offered at school. In some neighborhoods, it seems parents won’t have that choice. “
The CIUSSS du Center-Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal confirmed to the To have to that 100% of the 56 public or specialized primary schools in its territory will be visited by a vaccination team. The 36 private primary schools will be able to send their students to a designated vaccination site if they organize transport to get there, it says.
For its part, the CIUSSS du Nord-de-l’Île-de-Montréal indicates that mobile vaccination teams will visit half of the schools in its territory. “Some schools will send groups by organized transport to our fixed vaccination sites where time slots will be reserved for them,” it adds. Parents can also accompany their child to a vaccination site, it should be remembered.
Sylvain Cléroux said he was impressed that the CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal dispatched around 40 employees to his school on Monday. He wants the vaccination of his students to make it easier to manage cases of COVID-19, a source of stress for staff. Since the start of the school year, his school has recorded ten infections among students and one among employees. “We closed two classes,” says the principal. It looks like last year, but this year it’s spreading faster. “
5-11 year olds are currently the population most affected by COVID-19, emphasizes Dr Paul Le Guerrier, medical consultant at the Montreal Regional Public Health Department. He hopes parents will “get on” the vaccination train. “There is a model that has been done in Quebec, and if we can vaccinate a good proportion of children, we may be able to attenuate the fourth wave, therefore have fewer cases, especially during the holidays”, explains- he does.