Lia Levesque, The Canadian Press
MONTREAL — The free vaccination of certain seniors once morest shingles, provided for in the Girard budget, is a great delight for the Réseau FADOQ, which has been asking for it for years.
The measure, provided for in the budget tabled on Tuesday, went under the radar. Quebec plans to spend $124.6 million over five years to provide free shingles vaccine to 800,000 people.
Several details are still unknown, such as the age categories targeted and the date of entry into force of the measure. At the time of this writing, the Ministry of Health and Human Services had not responded to our questions on this subject.
The budget devotes no funds to it for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, then devotes $36.7 million to it in 2024-2025, the same in 2025-2026, $21 million in 2026-2027 and $30.2 million in 2027-2028.
This is “excellent news”, exclaimed in an interview on Wednesday, Gisèle Tassé-Goodman, president of the FADOQ Network. “It was one of our requests for several years.”
As soon as information began to filter on this subject, the FADOQ received testimonies, requests for information, she reports. “There is a craze already.”
The National Institute of Public Health reports that there are 27,000 cases of shingles each year in Quebec, resulting in 600 hospitalizations and 10 deaths. The majority of deaths occur in people aged 80 and over.
Already in December 2017, the Quebec Committee on Immunization unanimously recommended the establishment of a vaccination program once morest shingles.
The shingles vaccine costs regarding $150 per dose and two doses are required.
Shingles is particularly painful, gives sensations of burning and electric shocks. It can also lead to complications, especially postherpetic neuralgia. “The pain can last for several months or even years, and reduces the quality of life, especially in the elderly,” says the INSPQ.
