This piece was submitted to the Citizen Journal project of the Peter-McGill Community Council. Please note that the opinions expressed in these articles do not necessarily reflect those of our organization. This project aims to create space for the voices of residents, students and friends of the neighbourhood through articles, photos, videos, and podcasts in any language. Are you interested in contributing? Contact us at benevolat@petermcgill.org!
First, let me start by saying that all those who participated in my first article last month and had not been vaccinated yet have received their first dose! YAY!
And that is including my mom, 77, who received her first dose of the Pfizer vaccine at the CHUM vaccination site after being convinced by her doctor during her quarterly check up appointment – which was the first in-person appointment since the beginning of the pandemic. I think three elements he told her convinced her to say yes:
- because she’s followed at the CHUM she had access to that vaccination site which is exclusive for CHUM patients and personnel;
- the vaccine offered at that site was Pfizer;
- he was going to send her information to the site so she did not have to do anything else but wait for the call with the date of her appointment.
So there I was with her on May 4 when she got vaccinated. I was so relieved but also very happy to see her equally relieved and satisfied. She even said “I should’ve done this earlier”.
On my end, vaccination appointments for my age group opened Tuesday, May 4, and I got my appointment for the following Monday, May 10, at Palais des Congrès. I was thrilled to see how easy it was to get an appointment. I also felt so privileged (and a sense of guilt) to have so many appointment options in front of me to choose from. We decided to make it a mother-daughter thing again and my mom went with me. I was amazed by the efficiency and friendliness I found at Palais des Congrès. It was a great experience.
I also spoke to Maamoun Ali Adib, a 75-year-old resident in Peter-McGill who received his first dose at Palais des Congrès in March. He too had a great experience booking his appointment online and at the site. He expressed being reassured to see the numbers on vaccination and is positive we will reach herd immunity. Around him, not a lot of people are refusing to get vaccinated and those who were hesitant at first have changed their minds. “When people talk about vaccination and their experience, the biases go away,” he says.
It is also great to see how authorities are making vaccines available to as many people as possible in Montreal, adjusting when there are challenges and accommodating to different situations – here are three great examples:
- Mobile COVID-19 vaccination clinic opens in Montreal’s Park-Ex neighbourhood
- Quebec adds COVID-19 vaccine drive-thru to its immunization program
- Palais des Congrès offering walk-ins for vaccines and a ‘surprise guest’ to lure young people
Viviane and Christa, our Mobilization team, what about your experience with vaccination?
Stay tuned for a podcast that will be coming out from the Mobilization team!