(Quebec) The Legault government will announce on Tuesday all the details relating to the vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 in Quebec. Prime Minister François Legault will hold a press conference in Quebec City with the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé.
Quebec will specify the details surrounding the deployment of the vaccination campaign for 5 to 11 year olds on Tuesday at a press conference in the Capitale-Nationale. According to the scenario that circulated Monday at the end of the day, the announcement should take place at 5 p.m. The director of the vaccination campaign in Quebec, Daniel Paré, must also be present.
The Prime Minister confirmed that he would participate in the announcement with Mr. Dubé on the sidelines of a meeting with the mayoress of Montreal, Valérie Plante. “We will explain in detail how the vaccination of 5 to 11 year olds will work,” he commented briefly.
Health Canada gave the green light to Pfizer BioNTech’s pediatric vaccine on Friday. The Committee on Immunization of Quebec (CIQ) is due to publish its opinion on the vaccination of 5 to 11 year olds on Tuesday, confirmed the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ).
Ontario announced Monday that parents will be able to make an appointment to have their child vaccinated as of Tuesday. Vaccination could therefore begin as early as Thursday, according to local authorities.
The Legault government chooses to hold this important announcement at the same time that the Ombudsperson, Marie Rinfret, will make public her special report on the management of the COVID-19 crisis in CHSLDs during the first wave on Tuesday. The progress report released in December 2020 was devastating.
This occurs while the public inquiry of Coroner Géhane Kamel is being held in parallel. The revelations of the last few days have given new impetus to the demand of the opposition parties in Quebec City who are calling in unison for the holding of an independent investigation into the management of the pandemic in CHSLDs.
The coroner in particular pointed out a “masterful” gap between the directives given by Quebec and the reality on the ground. The former Minister of Health, Danielle McCann, also explained that the CEOs of health establishments had been asked to prepare for the pandemic, including in CHSLDs, in January. However, the coroner said that her “impression” was that “the preparation in CHSLD was not there”.
The Legault government aims to administer a first dose of vaccine to children aged 5 to 11 before Christmas.