The Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine region is the champion in terms of vaccination, with nearly 64% of residents having already received their third dose of the vaccine when the provincial average is 35%.
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Vaccination among children aged 5 to 11 has also progressed in the region, with 75% of young people having received their first dose.
The Integrated Health and Social Services Center (CISSS) Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine explained its success thanks to its personalized approach with residents.
“In Gaspésie, we have a clientele that is vulnerable,” mentioned the director of vaccination, Johanne Méthot, from the outset. “We have MRCs that are still very poor. People do not always have access to information technologies”.
The CISSS therefore decided from the start to call residents who had not made an appointment to be vaccinated in order to help them in their efforts.
This is a huge sigh of relief for Madelinots. At the start of the health crisis, the objective was to keep the virus out of the archipelago. With the Omicron variant, the objective is rather to keep hospitals decongested.
“We are reassured, especially since the health system on the Islands does not have the capacity to accommodate dozens and dozens of patients related to COVID-19,” commented MP Joël Arseneau.
He admitted, however, that the region has seen a spike in hospitalizations in recent weeks, but they were short-lived.
«[Les personnes] hospitalized did not develop complications, including in the elderly, immunosuppressed people and people who have significant comorbidity factors”, he rejoiced.
Stakeholders in Gaspésie and the Islands also noted greater adherence to the vaccine and that residents showed less reluctance to the idea of being vaccinated, compared to other regions.
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