The lifting of the vaccine passport from March 14 also applies to hospitals. Visitors, caregivers and companions will no longer have to show proof of vaccination before entering hospitals, rehabilitation centers and CLSCs, among others. A decision that is not unanimous among caregivers and in the medical community.
“Whatever the government says”, the members of the Association of Hematologists and Oncologists of Quebec intend to continue to require the vaccine passport in oncology departments and units where bone marrow transplants are performed, reports its president, Dr.r Martin Champagne.
“No matter what the ministry announces, in our sector of activity, we will maintain measures such as the vaccine passport,” he said. I think it’s entirely appropriate to maintain an environment of this nature when working with an immunosuppressed population. »
The Dr Champagne recalls that cancer patients are less well protected by vaccines against COVID-19. “If they are contaminated, they have a greater risk of complications and are more contagious,” he adds.
“Not a restaurant”
The Dr Donald Cuong Vinh, microbiologist and infectiologist at the McGill University Health Center (MUHC), also thinks that we must continue to apply, after March 14, the vaccine passport in healthcare settings as well as in all places where it is currently. in force. “We don’t need to add fuel to the fire by allowing unvaccinated people to enter hospitals, rehabilitation centers and CHSLDs and expose vulnerable patients to the virus”, believes- he.
If infected, unvaccinated people may have “a high viral load” and be “contagious for a longer period of time” compared to those who are adequately vaccinated, says Dr.r Vinh.
The Federation of Health and Social Services (FSSS), affiliated with the CSN, also pleads in favor of maintaining the vaccine passport in hospitals in order to ensure the safety of patients and workers. “By lifting the passport application, the government is putting the management of their own risks back in the hands of citizens,” says its president, Réjean Leclerc. If we go to watch a hockey game in a sports restaurant, we take the risk. But the situation is quite different, he argues, for a patient who has no choice but to go to the hospital.
The Dr Hoang Duong, president of the Association of specialists in internal medicine, is not against the lifting of the vaccine passport in hospital settings. But he expresses concerns. “A hospital is not quite a restaurant,” he recalls. The chances of finding someone who has a suppressed immune system and who is therefore less well protected by the vaccine are higher in the hospital than in society. »
Extreme caution is therefore called for, he said. “You have to be ready to demand it [de nouveau] at the slightest sign of a transmission that is taking place in hospitals, ”continues the Dr Duong.
At the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Center, the lifting of the vaccine passport “does not change much”, according to the DD Caroline Quach-Thanh, microbiologist-infectiologist. Two parents are already authorized to be at the bedside of their child without verification of the vaccine passport. “We ask to wear a mask to protect others,” she says.
In a press briefing on Wednesday, the acting national director of public health, Dr.r Luc Boileau, confirmed the lifting of the vaccine passport in hospitals. The situation in hospitals will be closely monitored, he said. “We really want to make sure that the risk will be more controlled in these places where there are much more vulnerable people and therefore, we have to be very careful on this side,” he said. If it is necessary to adjust, we will advise. »