analysis: authorities struggle with covid vaccine hesitancy

public health authorities are opening vaccination centres in côte-des-neiges and outremont to all montrealers in the 60-plus age group after hundreds of slots went unfilled over the weekend.still, montreal’s vaccine rollout was made all the more complicated on monday after the quebec government announced that the astrazeneca vaccine will not be given to people under the age of 55, while montrealers over the age of 60 will still qualify for the shots.“we’ve developed a strategy to try reach out to those who do not want to be vaccinated or who are hesitating to be vaccinated,” francine dupuis, associate executive director of the centre-west health authority, told the montreal gazette.“we think this is partly the explanation as to why we have not been able to fill our sites. some people came for their vaccination, but it was the astrazeneca one and they didn’t want it, so they returned home and didn’t come back.“others are not sure they want to be vaccinated,” dupuis added. “some are definitely against vaccination. there’s a mix of different attitudes.”on monday afternoon, quebec’s health ministry suspended the use of the astrazeneca vaccine in people under the age of 55 until further notice.the ministry explained european authorities are “currently evaluating a potential link between certain health complications (including bleeding disorders and cerebral venous thrombosis) and astrazeneca’s vaccine in people under the age of 55.”dupuis acknowledged the ministry’s advisory will make it tougher to persuade montrealers over the age of 60 to be jabbed with the astrazeneca shot even though the european medicines agency “still considers this product to be safe and effective” and no thrombosis has been linked to the vaccine in canada.authorities administered more than 417,000 mostly first doses to people in montreal by sunday. to date, 20.16 per cent of montreal’s population has been partially inoculated.the montreal gazette has obtained a detailed report of covid-19 vaccine coverage down to the neighbourhood level. the report found the highest overall vaccination rate in the cité-jardin neighbourhood in the rosemont—la petite patrie borough, with 46.2 per cent the population having received at least one dose, followed by côte-st-luc at between 36.8 and 38.5 per cent.by comparison, the neighbourhoods with the lowest vaccination coverage are lasalle heights, with an overall rate of 7.6 per cent, followed by saint-michel-est at 8.1 per cent.(the report does not distinguish between one-dose and two-dose coverage. given that most people have not yet received the second booster shot, the percentages in the report could be easily misconstrued.)among the report’s other findings:

• the 70-to-74 age demographic has reported the highest vaccine coverage across the city thus far. in contrast, the 60-to-64 age cohort has reported the lowest.
• authorities have already achieved 100 per cent vaccine coverage in several demographics depending on the neighbourhood. for example, everyone who is at least 70 years old in montreal west has received at least one shot.
• other areas of montreal with overall high vaccination rates are pointe-claire south and westmount.

health minister christian dubé said on monday that there are few of what he called no-shows at montreal’s vaccination centres.“the real issue is that we don’t have enough vaccines,” dubé told reporters after visiting a vaccination centre in montreal north. the province is expected to received several large shipments next week.dr. mylène drouin, head of montreal’s public health department, expressed concern about minority groups showing reluctance to get vaccinated. dupuis said her communications team is planning a social media publicity campaign to encourage more people in the 60-plus demographic to seek vaccination.the two vaccination sites that will be open to montrealers living in all of the city’s postal code zones are the bill durnan arena at 4988 vézina st. in côte-des-neiges and the recently constructed université de montréal pavilion at 1375 thérèse-lavoie-roux ave. in outremont. visit www.clicsante.ca to book an appointment online beforehand.
aderfel@postmedia.comtwitter.com/aaron_derfelall our coronavirus-related news can always be found at montrealgazette.com/tag/coronavirus.sign up for our email newsletter dedicated to local covid-19 coverage at montrealgazette.com/coronavirusnews.help support our local journalism by subscribing to the montreal gazette here.stay posted with 10/3, our canadian affairs podcast featuring expert perspectives, wherever you get your podcasts.