witness
EN
Allison Inquiry | Carole Avoine | Day 3 September 10th, 2026
A Quebec mother of four describes half her face becoming paralyzed about three weeks after a lottery-style AstraZeneca appointment she took to meet a job requirement. She describes Bell's palsy, spasms and multiple nerve symptoms, being dismissed by doctors and both sides of the vaccine debate, and waiting three years on a compensation claim.
Carole Avoine, a single mother of four in Quebec, expecting her first grandchild, was on leave for burn-out after losing her mother when she decided to look for work and needed proof of vaccination for employment. She chose AstraZeneca because she heard it was closest to older vaccines, and she says a Quebec minister congratulated the lucky people who got appointments, as though they had won a lottery. She received AstraZeneca on April 22, 2021, and about 20 days later, two days into a new job, she says she woke with half her face paralyzed. She describes an emergency doctor telling her within minutes that it was not related to the vaccine and citing a former prime minister who lived well with Bell's palsy, and an ear, nose and throat doctor telling her to take a second dose of Pfizer. In mid-June she had two weeks of unexpected bleeding after seven years of menopause. Avoine describes being paralyzed for 88 days, being unable to close her eye for seven months, taping it at night, grade three paralysis, spasms in her face, neck, throat and tongue, a worsening after a wisdom tooth extraction, two and a half years off work, and social assistance of $830 a month. She says her Quebec compensation claim has waited three years, and she describes being insulted by both vaccinated and unvaccinated people. Her testimony is given in French with English interpretation.
Carole Avoine, a single mother of four in Quebec, expecting her first grandchild, was on leave for burn-out after losing her mother when she decided to look for work and needed proof of vaccination for employment. She chose AstraZeneca because she heard it was closest to older vaccines, and she says a Quebec minister congratulated the lucky people who got appointments, as though they had won a lottery. She received AstraZeneca on April 22, 2021, and about 20 days later, two days into a new job, she says she woke with half her face paralyzed. She describes an emergency doctor telling her within minutes that it was not related to the vaccine and citing a former prime minister who lived well with Bell's palsy, and an ear, nose and throat doctor telling her to take a second dose of Pfizer. In mid-June she had two weeks of unexpected bleeding after seven years of menopause. Avoine describes being paralyzed for 88 days, being unable to close her eye for seven months, taping it at night, grade three paralysis, spasms in her face, neck, throat and tongue, a worsening after a wisdom tooth extraction, two and a half years off work, and social assistance of $830 a month. She says her Quebec compensation claim has waited three years, and she describes being insulted by both vaccinated and unvaccinated people. Her testimony is given in French with English interpretation.
