Vaccination initiatives seek out the most isolated
Groups, pop-up clinics strive to reach people who would not have gotten dose
In late March, the health authority serving the north end of Montreal established a pop-up COVID-19 vaccination site at the offices of Parole d'exclues, a community group that works with some of the area's most marginalized residents.
In the days prior, outreach workers and volunteers had spread out across Montreal North to get the word to regular clients over the age of 60, going door-to-door to register them and hanging flyers in larger apartment complexes.
When the one-day clinic opened, employees were there to help dispel any misinformation about the vaccine and reassure the skeptical. Some still refused the shot at the last moment, but in all, 42 doses were administered.
“It's not a huge number, but that's not what matters. These are people who would not have gotten vaccinated otherwise,” said Marie Simard of Parole d'exclues.
“They're people in the shadows who are harder to reach. When that's the case, you can't always think about it in terms of quantity — it's about the quality.”
The initiative, carried out by the CIUSSS du Nord-de-l'île-de-montréal in partnership with community groups in the area, is one of many examples of smaller-scale efforts to get the vaccine to some of Montreal's most vulnerable.
Between March 25 and April 12, the health authority delivered 1,200 doses through 20 similar pop-up clinics on its territory.
The effort targeted areas where the coronavirus variants have been spreading and aimed to reach people the health board believed wouldn't get vaccinated on their own.
In an interview, Simard was adamant a similar approach is needed across Montreal, and all of Quebec, to fill the gaps in the province's vaccination campaign and ensure no one is being left behind.
Montreal North has been one of the hardest-hit areas in the country since the pandemic began over a year ago. Many of the challenges that made it so vulnerable in the first place have now extended to the vaccination effort, Simard said.
Residents in the borough's poorer neighbourhoods don't always have access to the internet or a phone line to book appointments.
Others live in areas poorly served by public transit, and even when it is an option, some have grown wary of taking the bus altogether.
Mental health issues have also been exacerbated, Simard said. After a year of isolation, many have closed in on themselves and aren't likely to head to a mass vaccination site.
“We need to pay attention to those who don't fit in any of the traditional boxes,” Simard said of the vaccination campaign.
“How can we get something that will be flexible enough to reach them? Because what's been put in place so far does not answer their needs.”
Similar efforts to those in the north end are happening across Montreal as the vaccination campaign continues. On Thursday, the CIUSSS du Centre- Ouest-de-l'îlede-montréal announced it will set up its first six pop-up vaccination clinics on its territory as of next week.
In St-laurent, a team of employees from CARI St-laurent, a non-profit that helps newcomers integrate, heads out into the community every afternoon to try to reach some of the area's more isolated residents.
The group trained 23 employees for the effort when contagion levels started increasing in recent weeks, and intends to train more by the end of April.
Dressed in bright orange vests and equipped with pamphlets in six languages, they go door-todoor to spread awareness about everything from the importance of respecting public health measures to how and where people can get vaccinated.
“We ask them if they're (eligible) or if they know anyone who is. If they say yes, we explain their options and see if they need help booking an appointment or getting to the site,” said Roxanne Bourgault, who oversees the program.
“We're not there to convince them, but rather to inform them about what's going on. And I think that's key.”
Nearly five per cent of residents in the borough don't speak English or French, Bourgault said, creating a barrier between them and accessing information about the pandemic.
The group also works with many newcomers who have a precarious immigration status, reassuring them they can access testing or vaccination clinics without fearing repercussions.
“What we've noticed is that people are really pleased that we're going toward them,” Bourgault said. “It surprises them; they're happy someone has considered them.”
They're people in the shadows who are harder to reach. When that's the case, you can't always think about it in terms of quantity.