Officials hope new mobile clinic will help bolster Parc-Ex's lagging vaccine rate

MONTREAL -

Quebec may soon begin closing some vaccination clinics but in Parc-Extension, which has lagged behind other areas in terms of getting shots into arms, a new mobile clinic is helping to play catch up.

The new facility, which is located on du Parc, is located near public transit, with the hope being the convenience will help bring in residents.

“The question of proximity, the question of trust. People need to feel they can easily come here,” said borough mayor Giuliana Fumagalli.

The strategy seemed to have paid off, as 800 appointments were made for the clinic by 10 a.m., with others coming by on a walk-in basis.

Still, local officials are puzzled as to why so many in the area have been reluctant to get the vaccines. Just 52 per cent of Parc-Ex residents have been fully vaccinated, compared to 75 per cent in neighbouring Town of Mount Royal.

“I've been asking myself that same question. Some people are culturally against vaccination, some people are religiously against it,” said CIUSSS Centre-Ouest spokesperson Francine Dupuis.

Nehal Islam, co-founder of the We Can Vax group, helped to do outreach in the area by publishing flyers in both English and Punjabi, encouraging them to get the shot.

“They have these governmental websites and so on, sharing very valuable information, but it could be from a source that people here aren't familiar with,” he said.

The Parc-Ex vaccination site is scheduled to remain open until January.