Despite the government’s exhortation to receive their third dose of COVID-19 vaccine as soon as they are eligible, Quebecers are having difficulty finding an appointment online on the permitted date.
Readers aged 70 and over, or with a health problem qualifying for a booster dose, have found, by wanting to make an appointment on Clic Santé, that they would have to wait well beyond their due date. eligibility set six months after their second dose. Eligible people in December were offered appointments in January only.
A resident of Longueuil, eligible on December 13, could not find a time slot before January 9 where she had received her second dose. The earliest dates that followed in the list were at the Olympic Stadium and in La Petite-Patrie, in Montreal. She ended up finding an appointment at another Integrated Health and Social Services Center (CISSS) than hers in Montérégie.
The Minister of Health and Social Services, Christian Dubé, however urged seniors to receive their booster dose as soon as possible. “Watch your eligibility date for the third dose because, I repeat, I find it progressing very slowly,” he said at a press conference on November 29. “Go get your third dose as soon as your six-month interval date is ready,” he reiterated on Dec. 7. “Our elderly, important to get the third dose if you are part of the group,” also said the national director of public health, Dr.r Horacio Arruda, during the same press briefing.
It is possible that in some regions, the appointments available in December are all booked.
Robert Maranda, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Social Services
The current campaign targets several groups (children from 5 to 11 years old, seniors over 70 years old, people who are immunocompromised and on dialysis, or who have a chronic disease or a health problem at risk of complications), underlines Robert Maranda, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS), by email.
On the territory of the CISSS de la Montérégie-Est, which includes part of Longueuil, the vaccination of young people from 5 to 11 years old occupies a large place “and the time slots for other clienteles can indeed be impacted”, we confirmed CISSS spokesperson Marianne Paquette by email.
Faced with the large number of people eligible for a third dose, the CISSS has added many time slots, “but it still creates congestion.” “Since companies and pharmacies do not vaccinate, this generates increased traffic on our sites”, adds Mme Package
In all regions of Quebec, “more than 270,000 time slots are still available by Christmas,” said Mr. Maranda Thursday morning.
Refusal for AstraZeneca
Readers who received two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine – and therefore eligible for a dose of mRNA vaccine (Pfizer or Moderna) six months after their second dose – encountered a rejection message on Clic Santé.
Blocked online the day of his eligibility date, Christian Castonguay was offered an appointment over the phone the next day. His wife and two friends, all from Laval, have also been refused online, he added.
Quebec had announced that doubles vaccinated with the AstraZeneca or Covishield vaccine could register from November 25.
Élise-Mercier Gouin, from Montreal, tried to do so ten times from that date on Clic Santé, but was presented with an “Important message” indicating: “You are not yet authorized to make an appointment. -you. By phone, she made appointments for herself and her sister within days of their eligibility date. “It’s not a problem of time slots, there were a lot of them,” M told us.me Gouin. The attendant “told me she had calls from AstraZeneca, 70 and over, from parents to children!” », She testifies.
Appointments for people who have received two doses of the Astra Zeneca vaccine “can be made online on the Clic Santé platform”, ensures the MSSS.
Slow screening
In Montérégie-Est, the deadline for obtaining a screening appointment, which was 24 hours until Monday, is now 36 to 48 hours, indicates CISSS spokesperson Marianne Paquette. A rise in the number of outbreaks and tests, combined with a drop in the number of screeners, is to blame, says Mme Paquette.
In the neighboring CISSS, that of Montérégie-Center, the time to obtain an appointment has also been reduced from 24 hours to 36 to 48 hours. However, the CISSS offers walk-in screening. The distribution of rapid tests to parents of children in childcare centers and primary school “will help reduce waiting times in our screening centers”, also provides CISSS spokesperson Chantal Vallée.