Quebec is evaluating the possibility of requiring federal reinforcements to deal with the explosion of cases linked to the Omicron variant. However, no formal request has made it to Ottawa for the moment.
This was confirmed in turn by representatives of the governments of Quebec and Canada on Tuesday, when health authorities reported 5,043 new cases of COVID-19.
“We have expressed our needs in terms of immunization during discussions with our federal counterparts, wrote to the Duty Prime Minister François Legault’s press secretary, Ewan Sauves. But no formal request for possible federal aid has been made so far. “
“We are not ruling it out,” he added.
At the end of the morning on Tuesday, François Legault indicated on Twitter that he would take stock of the pandemic situation tomorrow.
The Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, has repeatedly lamented that the government lacks 500 vaccinators to contribute to the effort to administer the booster doses. Added to this are the needs in the overwhelmed screening centers.
In the morning, Radio-Canada maintained that the government of Quebec had demanded the dispatch of troops of the Canadian army on Monday. In Ottawa, it is said that no official request has been made, but it is expected.
While this fifth wave of COVID-19 was already shaping up to be difficult, last week none of the provinces raised the possibility of calling in the army for reinforcements during a call between federal and provincial health ministers .
However, the Quebec government announced the next day that it would bring forward the 3rd dose of vaccine in the coming weeks, by age group, by reducing the time prescribed since the 2nd dose from six to three months. And the Omicron variant has made the need to speed up vaccination all the more urgent, we explain in Quebec, where we again deplore the lack of arms as in 2020.
The Armed Forces lent a hand to the Quebec government last year, after the pandemic began to wreak havoc in CHSLDs and senior care centers in the province.
The Quebec government is now struggling to quickly increase citizens’ immunity with the third doses of vaccine.
The Armed Forces had 460 doctors and nurses last year during their Operation-Laser in long-term care centers in five provinces (Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta) and those of the Northern Territories. -Where is. The army could also offer logistical support for vaccination efforts, which represented the majority of their work in CHSLDs in 2020.
With Marie-Michèle Sioui