With vaccination rate lagging among young adults, Quebec colleges take matters into their own hands

For Charlotte Lees, a normal return to school for her first semester at CEGEP is an exciting prospect, considering what her older colleagues experienced at the height of the pandemic.

“It’s so much easier for me to make friends in person, so I want to go back personally,” said the 17-year-old Vanier College freshman.

Like many Quebec teenagers, Lees has received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and recently increased her second dose for late July.

However, your hope for a normal semester rests in the hands of other Quebecers ages 18-29, whose age group must reach a 75 percent vaccination rate – a goal that is proving difficult.

At 67 percent, the age group lags behind everyone else in the province. Health Minister Christian Dubé says he is concerned, particularly about the 18- to 24-year-old group, who will make up the majority of students in August.

However, Vanier College director general John McMahon says he is optimistic about sticking to Plan A of the CEGEP return plan, which calls for all students to be back on campus in person.

“One hundred percent like we were before COVID-19. That’s still our intention, that’s still our hope, ”he said.

If the vaccination goal is not met, Plan B envisages a return to a hybrid online presence model that prioritizes freshmen in face-to-face learning.

To encourage students and staff to get vaccinated, McMahon created a promotional video and a plan to get vaccines on campus.

“We are currently in discussions with the Montreal health authorities and other CEGEPs to consider setting up vaccination clinics directly on campus in August to encourage these students.”

Charlotte Lees, 17, an aspiring Vanier college student, is hoping for a normal school year. (Submitted by Charlotte Lees)

Low prices, high costs

While 72.8 percent of Montreal residents between the ages of 18 and 29 received a first dose of vaccine, other higher education institutions are located in regions where rates are much lower.

In Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, where the rate in this age group is only 65 percent, several post-secondary institutions have teamed up to vaccinate students before the start of the school year.

Institutions in every corner of the region – Chicoutimi, Jonquière, Alma and Saint-Félicien CEGEPs, as well as the University of Quebec in Chicoutimi (UQAC) – launched a campaign to remind students and staff of what is at stake.

“What we want to bring forward are all the positive aspects that the students were unable to experience during the pandemic” – namely face-to-face classes, gatherings and parties, explains UQAC communications director Marie-Karlynn Laflamme

By mid-August, the five institutions will be spreading messages for the vaccination via social media, on their web platform and via the mainstream media of print and radio.

To encourage students and staff to get vaccinated, Vanier College director general John McMahon created a promotional video and a plan to get vaccines on campus. (Rowan Kennedy / CBC)

“The last bit of motivation”

While the province has some of the highest vaccination rates in Canada, it has struggled to reach the young population in getting vaccines up and running.

Attempts to drive young people up, such as the “Vaccin-O-Bus” of the CIUSS de la Capitale-Nationale and Montreal’s West End Parks Initiative “Vaccivan”, have so far failed to achieve the desired results.

“I think it’s a time when they feel a little invulnerable,” said Dr. Stine Linden-Andersen, Dean of Student Affairs at Bishop’s University and Associate Professor of Psychology, the Age Group.

Because of this, she says, the university redesigned vaccination as a “care for our community” initiative that includes breaking down barriers by giving students free taxi vouchers to travel to their vaccines and a social media campaign be asked.

As soon as students begin to see themselves as just part of a whole community, “we will go to 75 with this lens [per cent]“Said Linden-Andersen.

Bishop’s University in Sherbrooke, Que., Is in the Estrie area, where vaccination rates for 18-29 year olds are below the provincial average. (Bertrand Galipeau / Radio Canada)

Bishop’s University in Sherbrooke, Que., Is in the Estrie area, where the vaccination rate for 18 to 29 year olds is 62.6 percent.

Two weeks ago, when the rate for Quebecers in this age group was only two percent lower than it is today, Premier François Legault urged youths to get vaccinated “in solidarity with their parents and grandparents” and to receive collective immunity the province is still considering setting up a lottery to encourage them to book an appointment.

But like the bishops who are beginning to plan orientations, some of which are only safe for vaccinated people, the province yesterday stressed the harsher realities.

If the situation worsens in the autumn with the reopening of the schools, “we have to make serious social decisions,” said the health minister. This may mean that certain non-essential services are only available to fully vaccinated individuals.

For Linden-Andersen, these steps will be “the last bit of motivation you might need”.

source https://collegeeducationnewsllc.com/with-vaccination-rate-lagging-among-young-adults-quebec-colleges-take-matters-into-their-own-hands/