“The unvaccinated are not all antivaccines”: experts denounce the “Health contribution” that François Legault wishes to impose on unvaccinated adults, a group of the population that is anything but homogeneous. But who are these 10% of unvaccinated Quebecers?
“We imagine people in front of YouTube who drink beer while ruminating on conspiracy theories, but it’s much more complex than that”, indignant the president of the Quebec Doctors for the Public Plan (MQRP), Isabelle Leblanc . According to her, the imposition of a tax on antivaccines represents a danger for several vulnerable categories of the population.
“The big problem when we present these people as a homogeneous group completely disconnected from science, we forget that there are other people and we don’t try to join them,” she continues.
Practicing medicine in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood, in Montreal, Mme Leblanc evokes the case of a patient met this week for whom simply making an appointment is a challenge.
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“He does not have internet at home and he wanted to make an appointment, but by calling Clic Santé, he could not get the line because the wait has eaten up every minute of his cellular plan,” he says. -she. I had to help her make an appointment in my office. ”
Joël Lemay / QMI Agency
The specialists we spoke to are also unanimous: all strata of society are represented in the unvaccinated population, and some of them are grappling with problems that greatly complicate their vaccination.
“Destitute in many ways”
Epidemiologist Nimâ Machouf is one of those experts who believe that the government’s decision will worsen the situation of people who already live in a precarious situation.
“There are people who are not vaccinated because they are deprived in many ways: in mental health, in terms of social organization, etc. They are not able to organize themselves to get vaccinated. There is a part of these people who cannot even conceive that COVID exists. They are elsewhere, disconnected. They are already on the mat. Why would we tax them? ”
Photo QMI Agency, Joël Lemay
A concern shared by the coordinator at La rue des femmes, an organization that helps homeless women, Louise Waridel.
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“Sometimes there are mental health issues that put women in a big distortion of reality,” she explains. They imagine it is poison. Some don’t want to be vaccinated and we just don’t know why. ”
And among those who are open to vaccination, some will never make it to their appointment.
“There is a lot that is being done to reach the homeless population. I am thinking of mobile vaccination sites, help with making appointments. But there are those for whom this is not enough. I am thinking of consumers. If the call for drugs is too great at the time of the appointment, it is possible that the person decides not to go, ”she illustrates.
STEVE MADDEN / QMI AGENCY
Traumatic experience
And among those who voluntarily refuse to be vaccinated, the reasons vary. It is not always a decision motivated by conspiracy theories or by the movement to oppose sanitary measures.
Samuel Hary’s father, 78, is not against vaccination. It is rather the traumatic experience lived following the administration of his first dose that slows him down before the idea of returning to a vaccination center, explains his son.
“After being vaccinated, my father had a heart embolism and was hospitalized. We’re not even sure it’s the vaccine, but the experience really chilled him for the second dose. His cardiologist recommended that he be vaccinated, but he told him that it is possible that he still has side effects, ”he explains.
His father decided that the risk to his health was not worth it. He prefers to stay at home.
“My father lives in the countryside, he hardly sees anyone and he isolates himself. Is the risk of having other heart complications justified? Let’s say he’s not planning to get the vaccine anytime soon, ”he says.