(Quebec, Montreal) At least 27,000 employees of the public health and social services network are still not adequately vaccinated within one week of the entry into force of compulsory vaccination on October 15. The approach of the deadline is sowing concern in some thirty intermediate accommodation resources, on the fringes of the health network, where managers fear service disruptions.
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As of Wednesday, the public network still counted 27,051 employees who were not adequately vaccinated, including 15,607 who did not receive any dose of the vaccine. This new assessment dated October 6 now includes workers who will not be able to receive their second dose on time.
It should therefore be understood that 11,444 workers received a first injection. It is difficult to estimate with precision, however, how many of them will be officially suspended without pay since workers who have received a first dose of vaccine have two days left to fetch the second.
The Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) considers an employee to be fully protected seven days after the injection of the second dose. A more accurate picture of the situation is therefore expected after October 8, according to our information. It can also be assumed that these 11,444 employees will be partially suspended and will return to work after receiving their second dose.
For the time being, 91.8% of workers in the public health and social services sector are adequately vaccinated, according to the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ).
In mid-September, the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, estimated at 20,000 the number of employees of the network who had not received any dose of vaccine. But as the deadline approaches, Quebec is also counting those who, in all likelihood, will not have time to roll up their sleeve a second time.
Of the 27,051 employees who are not yet fully vaccinated, 11,763 are part of the nursing staff, according to the report provided by the MSSS. If we look only at those who have not received any vaccine dose, or 15,607 people, 6,901 are in contact with patients.
Last Thursday, Mr. Dubé indicated that there were still 16,000 employees to be vaccinated, including a little more than 6,500 in contact with patients, without specifying their vaccination status. It therefore excluded the 11,444 partially vaccinated employees.
Endangered intermediate resources
The deadline for compulsory vaccination is also causing concern in some thirty intermediate resources in Quebec, where the threats of service disruptions are becoming clearer.
On October 15, only one of the five employees of the intermediate resource (RI) of Karima Sadik in Montreal will be able to continue working with the nine users of the establishment, all of whom have a serious behavioral disorder. “Only one of my employees is doubly vaccinated. Two refuse. One is traveling. And the last one will have its second dose on October 18, ”explains Mme Sadik, who fears the breakdown of services.
Like her, around 30 of the 1060 intermediate resources in Quebec are threatened with a break in services on October 15, because many of their employees will not be vaccinated on time, explains Johanne Pratte, general manager of the Association des ressources intermediaires logement du Quebec.
Of course, the concern is very strong. Because we don’t really know what’s going to happen.
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Johanne Pratte, Executive Director of the Association of Intermediate Accommodation Resources of Quebec
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The IRs had until October 4 to announce how many of their employees would not be vaccinated by the deadline and to submit a contingency plan to their CISSS or CIUSSS. “The CIUSSS may be able to provide me with personnel. But I do not make myself unrealistic expectations: they too have staff difficulties ”, notes Mme Sadik.
Mme Pratte says that already, some health establishments have announced that they will not be able to provide staff to intermediate resources who will find themselves out of services on October 15. “This is particularly the case of the Laurentians and the Center-West of Montreal”, maintains Mr.me Pratte.
Several CISSS and CIUSSS joined by Press indicated that they were in the process of compiling data on the number of employees in their territory who will not be vaccinated by October 15 and establishing their contingency plan. More details will be released next week, we were told.
In the meantime, Mme Sadik is trying intensely to recruit staff. ” But it’s not easy. My salaries cannot compete with those offered by private employment agencies, ”she said. She also emphasizes that her clientele, who have an autism spectrum disorder or a severe intellectual disability, “cannot be entrusted to just anyone”.
Postponement of the requested deadline
The RI are not the only worries. In a joint outing, the Parti Québécois (PQ) and five unions in the health and social services sector on Wednesday urged the Legault government to postpone the date of entry into force of compulsory vaccination to avoid “generalized service disruptions” »In the public network.
“We are heading into a wall,” said Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, head of the PQ, saying he feared “catastrophic” repercussions in the network.
According to the PQ, the “remedy exceeds the disease”, while “the risks for the patient are greater than the benefits” generated by the obligation of vaccination. An assertion echoed at the Blue Room by the parliamentary leader, Joël Arseneau, which the Prime Minister did not fail to stress.
Would the cure be worse than the evil of making compulsory vaccination? It is nevertheless serious, a party which is supposed to be progressive, a party which arrives and which says that compulsory vaccination in health would be a bad idea.
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François Legault, in response to Joël Arseneau, parliamentary leader of the Parti Québécois
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Quebec does not intend to back down on the date of the entry into force of compulsory vaccination.
The Prime Minister also affirmed that out of “1000 establishments, there are 5 which do not provide services” as usual, at the present time. A table reported “planned reorganizations” has also just been published online for the sake of “transparency”, the Minister of Health confirmed on Twitter on Wednesday.
Unions say they are in favor of maintaining rapid screening tests on a regular basis for unvaccinated workers and for continued awareness, as immunization coverage continues to increase.
27,051: Number of employees of the health and social services network who are still not fully vaccinated as of October 6, of which 11,763 are caregivers in contact with patients. Source: Department of Health and Social Services.
15,607: Number of employees in the health and social services network who have not received any dose of vaccine as of October 6. Source: Department of Health and Social Services
11,444: Number of employees in the health and social services network who received a single dose of vaccine on October 6. Source: Department of Health and Social Services
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