While more than 30 million rapid self-tests are due to land in Quebec in the coming weeks, the government of François Legault complains that Ottawa is in the dark for the following months. The federal government recognizes that it is working towards longer-term supply.
“The next deliveries, that will not be enough”, agreed the director general of the executive and operational management of the pandemic in Quebec, Daniel Paré, during an interview with The duty.
Quebec expects 31.5 million screening devices for the month of January. The announcement, made Wednesday by Ottawa, delighted Mr. Paré, who, in addition to coordinating the vaccination strategy since the start of the health crisis, is responsible for the distribution of self-tests.
“We are very happy,” said the former president and CEO of the CISSS Chaudière-Appalaches.
However, it is the months to come that are wrong. “For February and March, I have zero predictability,” said Mr. Paré. What we’re going to want is to go get more. “
Asked about this on Friday, the Federal Minister of Health, Jean-Yves Duclos, did not make a commitment for the deliveries of rapid tests beyond the month of January. During this month, 140 million are expected in the country, including 31.5 million for Quebec, a little less than four tests per person.
“I admit, and I recognize, and I hear very well the wish of all my colleagues across the country to have more predictability,” he said at a press conference. This is what we also want, to have more predictability with our suppliers, […] who are in an environment where supply chains are particularly fragile. We work rather well compared to other countries. “
Discussions began Thursday for a longer-term rapid test distribution strategy, said Minister Duclos.
Since the start of the pandemic, the federal government has been responsible for offering self-test shipments to the provinces. In mid-December, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland argued that there were “already a lot of rapid tests in the country”, imploring the provinces to use the roughly 85 million tests that arrived before December, to which 35 million were added before the holidays.
“Before December, as has been said, with respect but it is the truth, there were few requests from the provinces and territories for the distribution of these rapid tests across the country. It is not a blame, it is an observation ”, explained Minister Duclos on Friday.
Fearing delays, the Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services made its own purchases. About three million more tests are due to hit drugstore shelves from next Tuesday.