Quebec’s fourth dose campaign got started in the province’s long term care homes (CHSLDs) on Tuesday, in the hopes of offering an additional level of protection to vulnerable seniors who might be concerned about the presence of the BA2 variant of COVID-19.
As with past vaccination campaigns, the second booster is being made available by mobile teams who are travelling to each care facility.
The vaccine is also being offered to people 80 and older who live at home, and people who are immunocompromised, on a by-appointment basis.
While undertaking this new campaign, the government is reminding the public to take particular care when it comes to visiting people in situations of increased vulnerability, such as those living in care homes.
Quebec recorded 8,849 doses of vaccine administered from Tuesday to Wednesday.
The Institut national d’excellence en santé et en services sociaux (INESSS) published information on Wednesday confirming that there has been an 18 per cent increase in the number of Covid-related hospitalizations since last week, and projecting that this trend will continue over the next two weeks.
There were 1,200 hospitalizations across Quebec on Wednesday, an increase of 47 compared to the previous day following 148 new entries and 101 new discharges. According to the INESSS projections, the number new entries will likely rise closer to 200 in the coming weeks.
Of the 1,200 reported, 60 people were in intensive care, a decrease of 3 compared to the previous day.
The province reported eight new deaths linked to the virus, for a total of 14,353 since the start of the pandemic.
In the Eastern Townships there were 74 in the hospital as of Wednesday’s data, an increase of three. The region continued to have no intensive care patients with Covid and no new deaths.
