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Raymond Boudreau heard about Santé Montréal’s walk-in monkeypox vaccination clinic from a friend, who had heard it from his hairdresser Wednesday afternoon.

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“The hairdresser mentioned they were doing vaccines here; we weren’t even aware,” Boudreau said of the clinic on de Maisonneuve Blvd. E., at the edge of the Gay Village.

Boudreau’s friend convinced him to get vaccinated, too.

“He told me it was worth it,” said the 70-year-old. “I said, ‘I don’t know.’ I was already vaccinated against smallpox when I was younger. He told me it would be even safer to get vaccinated (again), so here I am.”

Montreal is the epicentre of the monkeypox virus in North America, with 126 confirmed cases as of Tuesday, accounting for 7.9 per cent of the World Health Organization’s total of 1,600 confirmed cases in 39 countries so far this year, which caused 72 deaths.

All the cases in Montreal so far are among men, though the WHO has said the high number of cases in this group may be, as has been seen before, the product of “positive health-seeking behaviour in this demographic.”

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That behaviour was on display Wednesday, as several Montrealers answered the call of the ramped-up vaccination campaign by municipal and provincial health authorities, targeting “men who plan to or are having sexual relationships with men.”

Pierre (who preferred not to give his real name), 55, looked dapper exiting the clinic in a lime green suit. He wasn’t too concerned about catching monkeypox, but got vaccinated just to be safe.

“I’m not really the type to go to clubs and have casual encounters,” he said, “but if ever the occasion presents itself ­— it’s more for that (reason I came).”

Kyle, 32, knows of friends of friends who contracted the virus.

“It seemed to not be a good experience for them,” he said, “and from everything I had read, (the vaccine) is safe and effective, so I thought I would get it.”

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Emerging from the clinic, he felt good about his decision and prepared for whatever the next few months may hold.

“I definitely feel more protected for the summer season,” he said. “We’re going to have a lot of new people coming into the city, a lot of mixing up of everybody, so it feels good to be protected on that level.”

The virus appears to be transmitted by close, prolonged physical contact, Quebec says. The disease can be transmitted five days before symptoms appear and until all lesions have crusted over.

Danny Lapierre, 52, got vaccinated because “I’m in contact with a lot of people in the gay community, so there’s a potential danger,” he said. “And I have a stronger reaction to STIs (sexually transmitted infections) — I know there’s no link, but I didn’t want to be very sick.”

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He wasn’t sure he felt any safer being vaccinated, but knew he had done the right thing.

“I did what I had to do, voilà,” he said, adding that he had gotten jabbed “to avoid propagation, for me and so as not to spread it, as well. I’m a good soldier. You tell me to do it, and I go.”

Michael (not his real name), 56, got vaccinated not due to any immediate concern, but out of caution.

“Cases are still very low,” he said, “but it could spread, so just to be ready in case it does.”

Asked whether the threat of monkeypox was changing people’s behaviours, he replied that it was “limiting behaviours, I would say.”

He came after hearing about the vaccination campaign on the news Tuesday night, and was happy with his choice.

“Apparently (the vaccine reaches) full effect or close to full effect after one week,” he said. “That’s very encouraging. It’s a relief, just like the COVID vaccine.”

tdunlevy@postmedia.com

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