Thousands of people came to the outpatient clinics this weekend to get a second dose of AstraZeneca vaccine. They queued up early in the morning to get their vaccinations.
Some of the outpatient clinics, which were surprised by the large attendance on Saturday, had no choice but to send hundreds of people home to be brought back the next day. This was especially the case with the Salaberry-de-Valleyfield Clinic, on the grounds of the CISSS de la Montérégie-Ouest, where the elderly, aged 70 and over, were left empty-handed after waiting on their feet for several hours.
There were a lot of people in line on Saturday. It was a Saturday disorientation, it was poor organization. We finally got tickets to return
Janice, 60, said she waited nearly three hours on Saturday before collecting her famous voucher. She got her second dose of the vaccine on Sunday morning.
Richard, 70, complained A complete lack of communication
. We waited for hours and no one told us anything. There were people in wheelchairs, a large crowd […] Everyone was a little confused … why didn’t they make appointments with Clic Santé?
He said.
Adequate doses
According to site workers, on Saturday, nearly a thousand people showed up to administer the second dose without an appointment, not to mention those who came to be vaccinated for their first dose. And the line was already long before the clinic opened.
But the director of vaccination at CISSS de la Montérégie-Ouest, Dominique Pilon, confirmed during an interview that corrections were made quickly once the doors opened, by adding staff and distributing vouchers.
Everything was planned
According to the director, however, it seems that the presence of many before the opening surprised the organizers. It was also necessary to make sure that the process was explained to everyone
The manager, however, admitted that staff could have opened the doors earlier in order to start distributing vouchers.
We still do well on Saturday, despite the crowd. Everyone left either with a vaccine or with an appointment. We have enough vaccinations for the next few days of vaccination.
The same scenario in the Dix30 area, in Brossard, where some interested parties were forced to return on Saturday, as they were unable to collect vouchers in the morning. CISSS had to remind attendees not to come in advance, but at the time of the meeting.
Confusion about the time interval between doses
To be eligible for the second doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, you must be 45 years of age or older and have had your first dose of the vaccine for at least 8 weeks, that is, before April 3. The time interval between the two doses was pre-determined at 16 weeks (112 days).
However, when vaccination sites are at risk of missing doses of the vaccine, a second dose of AstraZeneca may be given to the person who received the first dose up to 28 days before that, according to information from the department’s communications advisor. CIUSSS Est – Montreal, Christian Mercier. That’s why, at the end of this week, many people who had received their first dose more than 28 days ago in the morning were rejected, but were able to receive their second dose at the end of the day on an outpatient basis.
The confusion appears to persist, because the CIUSSS du Center-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal confirms that its staff immediately authorizes a second dose of 28 days, based on the protocol of the Quebec immunization program.
Get your second dose everywhere in Quebec
At the vaccination site at the Olympic Stadium, 1,200 doses were provided on Saturday and Sunday, with more on Mondays and Tuesdays. They were all administered on Saturdays, but according to CIUSSS results on East Island of Montreal, about 400 were taken on Sunday. The Palais des Congrès was also less crowded than the day before, according to CIUSSS du Center-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal. 681 doses were given on Saturday.
In Martin-Brodeur Square in the Saint-Léonard region, 500 available doses were also given on Saturday. Sunday, 250 doses were scheduled, and more than 260 doses were administered last. In Piazza Décarie, in the Côte-des-Neiges, 485 doses were given on Saturday and hundreds more will be served in the coming days.
According to a CISSS Montérégie-Center report, 735 people received their second dose on Dix30, on Sunday, and 30 coupons were distributed the following day. Vaccination has been extended without an appointment at the site until Monday, from 12:30 to 7:30 p.m. In Monterige, other sites will be designated for vaccination this week in Saint-Césir and Saint-Jean-Sur-Richelieu.
The enthusiasm was the same elsewhere in the province, particularly in Troyes-Riviere, where the staff could not take a lunch break. Some people waited two to three hours there to receive their second dose. In Quebec, all doses were found already at 10 AM Sunday.
Around 500,000 Quebecers received the first dose of AstraZeneca. One million additional doses of the vaccine are expected to arrive in Canada by the end of June.
