Prime Minister François Legault wanted to send a “clear message” to Quebecers as the start of the new school year approaches: people whose last injection dates back more than five months must go get their booster dose.
“I am counting on you,” said Mr. Legault on Tuesday, accompanied by the Minister of Health and Social Services, Christian Dubé. The latter, however, specified that people recently infected must wait a period of three months before being immunized.
If the drop in the number of hospitalizations shows that the seventh wave is running out of steam, “we must remain cautious”, recalled the Prime Minister. The national director of public health, Dr. Luc Boileau stressed that COVID-19 continues to make “people sick, very sick”.
With the return to school benches fast approaching, Mr. Legault stressed that this is the right time to launch a “massive vaccination campaign”. The latter has already started in CHSLDs and RPAs last Monday.
As of next Monday, vaccination will be open to people aged 60 and over. As of August 29, Quebecers aged 18 and over will in turn be able to roll up their sleeves.
Minister Dubé affirmed that there were “much greater” advantages in protecting oneself with the current vaccine rather than waiting for the arrival of a new vaccine adapted to the Omicron variant. He said no details are currently available regarding Health Canada’s approval of this vaccine. The number of doses that will be available also remains unknown.
On Tuesday, health authorities reported 1,964 hospitalizations linked to COVID-19 in Quebec, a drop of 29 from the previous day. Among these, 50 patients are in intensive care, five less.
Quebec also reports 36 additional deaths from the disease and officially lists 1,256 new cases of COVID-19.