(Québec) Québec solidaire wishes to set up brigades to go door to door to convince the unvaccinated population to protect themselves against COVID-19.
Posted at 11:42
“The anti-vaccines make a lot of noise, but the non-vaccinated are not all anti-vaccines”, launched the parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, in a press briefing on Wednesday.
The idea is not to find the addresses of people who are not vaccinated. “The medical information of Quebecers is precious, we do not want to broadcast it to the winds,” said the MP. These brigades would “knock on doors” in neighborhoods where the vaccination rate is considered too low.
Among the unvaccinated, he added, there are also isolated seniors, people who speak neither French nor English, isolated people or people with mental health problems. Their mission would be to “calm people’s anxieties” and “answer questions” in their mother tongue.
In his opinion, the strategy of the Legault government – to intensify the vaccination campaign – is not working. Instead of “waiting for the unvaccinated to come to the vaccine”, we must rather “bring the vaccine to the unvaccinated”.
He wants CLSCs and FMGs to be able to vaccinate. Physicians or social workers who already have a “bond of trust” can do more to convince people who fear it. “That we offer them on the spot, and that they can be vaccinated almost immediately,” says Mr. Nadeau-Dubois. He also proposes to make 15 million available to community groups to promote vaccination.
“Vaccine tax”
In interview with The Press, Mr. Nadeau-Dubois had criticized the Legault government, which according to him divides the Quebec population with its “vaccine tax”, a “punishment” for the non-vaccinated. He believes that this policy polarizes Quebec society and ultimately only benefits Éric Duhaime, the leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec.
He is now asking the acting national director of public health, Dr.r Luc Boileau, to explain himself on this question. “It is essential that Public Health tell us if they have an opinion on the matter, and if so, what is it,” he said. He suspects that the health contribution, the amount of which is still not known, is an essentially political measure.
In the coming months, Québec solidaire will also unveil its plan to repair the health system. “Political choices have made the health system sick,” lamented Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois. He points to the ambulatory shift of the Parti Québécois, and the Couillard and Barrette reforms, which “centralized” the health system.