MONTREAL Quebec has earmarked $100,000 in 2020-2021 to study the phenomenon of long COVID-19 and will spend another $100,000 in 2022-2023. A drop in the bucket, said Liberal health critic Marie Montpetit, considering that about 10 per cent of Quebecers who have contracted COVID-19 will have long-term effects. She pointed out some of the long-term symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath, memory and concentration problems, anxiety and depression, as noted by the Quebec Institute of Excellence in Health and Social Services (INESSS) on April 12. A substantial number of Quebecers are already in this situation, Montpetit said during the study of the Ministry of Health s budget. I have not heard the premier or the minister of health talk about this.
During the study of the Ministry of Health s appropriations this week in the National Assembly in Quebec City, it was found that colon cancer screenings are lagging far behind.
Arruda replied that he is following the vaccine certification process very closely, particularly Pfizer s. If the vaccine were to become available for this age group, there could indeed be a vaccination campaign, especially for students between the ages of 12 and 16, potentially before school starts. These are things that we look at and anticipate, he said. On the other hand, Arruda seemed to close the door on Wednesday to the idea of a vaccine passport that would give access to certain services and public places. The idea, which was raised in February by Health Minister Christian Dubé, has created quite a debate in recent weeks.
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Quebec is studying the possibility of vaccinating adolescents age 12 to 16 before school resumes in the fall.
The scenario was brought up Wednesday by public health director Horacio Arruda.
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Liberal health critic Marie Montpetit asked Health Minister Christian Dubé if he believes the province’s 350,000 secondary students would be vaccinated two or three weeks before school starts up again.
“Could we give ourselves this challenge, if science permits?” she asked.