‘We don’t want to have people who come for tickets and then try to
sell them,’ says to Laval News Yves Bolduc, Quebec’s health minister,
pondering a possible flaw in the government’s latest anti-flu strategy.

The Quebec Health Ministry has decided to deal with some of the logistic problems involved in administering tens of thousands of anti-H1N1 flu shots across the province with a system of coupons to make sure people aren’t left needlessly standing in line at flu clinics, and to assure that the shots are given in a manner that is as orderly as possible.
“The government is being very attentive about the way in which the vaccination is being given for the A (H1N1) flu and about any situations that may call for adjustments on our part,” Liberal Health Minister Dr. Yves Bolduc said during a press conference held on Tuesday in Quebec City, in which The Laval News participated through a telephone conference call.
Coupon system
While insisting that the province’s vaccination campaign has been going well, he said new measures are being introduced to reduce long lineups and prolonged waiting times. As such, the government is introducing a coupon system. Such a system has already been tried with success in Gatineau, he said. The number of coupons will correspond to the number of flu vaccine doses available at a clinic on a given day.
The coupons became available on Wednesday in Quebec City, the Montérégie and Laurentides regions, and on Thursday morning in Montreal. Bolduc said the measure wouldn’t necessarily eliminate waiting times completely, but would reduce them significantly so they would be more reasonable. The province is currently involved in the largest vaccination campaign in its history. For questions on the A (H1N1) flu and vaccination shots, the government has set up an information line: 1-877-644-4545.
For some, long waits
According to Dr. Yolaine Galarneau, a senior health ministry spokeswoman, six flu clinics were up and running for business on Tuesday in various regions of the province. Ten more were due to open by Saturday, with even more expected to be added to the number by next week. In the Montreal region, there have been reports of persons in high-risk groups having to wait up to three days to receive their flu shot. Bolduc said he expected health officials in Montreal to fast-track their vaccination process. “We want to vaccinate everyone in the population as soon as possible.”
Dr. Alain Poirier, the director of public health for the province, was asked whether the coupon system might just end up causing lineups of its own. “Maybe there will be lineups,” he said. “We are going to try and do this as fast as possible, but they won’t be for four or six hours. Sure if people arrive at midnight they will be waiting for the coupons in the morning, but we ask people to be reasonable. It will be much faster for them to come back later and they won’t have to wait to have the vaccination. The problem now is that they wait to get the vaccination and they have to wait in line. With the coupons we will be telling them the time to come.”
A market for coupons?
The possibility has arisen that with coupons now available for the shots, some people may end up trading or even selling theirs should they be presented with the opportunity. “There is no perfect system,” admitted Bolduc. “At a certain point we have to trust the people. We can not know what they will do. But if we see something like that we will react. You can do it, but we don’t want to have people who come for tickets and then try to sell them after. I think the population knows that we have to do something about the lineups. I think this is the best system, even if it’s not a perfect system.”