MONTREAL -- If anyone needed extra encouragement to get a COVID-19 vaccine -- and some seem to -- Quebec's health minister stepped up on Thursday, making his own first dose into a photo op.
Health Minister Christian Dube said he wanted to get the shot in public in order to set a good example, and, after a week full of headlines about the AstraZeneca vaccine, to show it's safe in the most personal way.
Dubé got the AstraZeneca vaccine himself and said it's important to dispel unwarranted fears about its safety.
He later posted a photo of himself, naming the vaccine, and said he was feeling "great."
Other politicians followed with some light-hearted teasing. A co-leader of opposition party Quebec Solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, applauded Dubé's public vaccination while mentioning that he was himself much, much further down the line -- meaning much younger.
And Premier François Legault posted a tweet commending his health minister for how brave he was in getting his needle.
The week that led up to Dubé's decision created some serious worries, however.
There had been some reports of blood clotting tied to the AstraZeneca vaccine, or certain batches of it, and on Monday, health authorities in Montreal reported that a significant minority of patients were turning down that vaccine when they heard it was the one intended for them.
As the research became clearer later in the week, authorities stressed the vaccine is absolutely safe.
Dubé got his shot at the Palais de Congrès in Montreal, one of the city's biggest mass-vaccination sites.
Watch the video above to see Billy Shields's report from the scene.
