Quebec will soon offer a fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to certain groups amid an uptick in pandemic indicators, the interim director of public health announced Wednesday.
Dr. Luc Boileau told reporters the booster will be made available for seniors who are 80 years and older, as well as to Quebecers who live in long-term care homes. It will not be mandatory, but it will be offered.
“We are observing, across several indicators, a rise in cases and hospitalizations,” Boileau said.
Boileau said the BA. 2 subvariant of the Omicron variant has prompted that rise and that half of the province’s current infections are linked to it. It isn’t more dangerous, he added, but it’s “much more contagious.”
The plan to lift the mask mandate in mid-April is still underway, Boileau said, but it will not be bumped up given the evolving situation.
Trending Stories
Zelenskyy says ‘confrontational’ talks between Ukraine and Russia moving forward
Jamaica to remove ties to monarchy as soon as William and Kate leave, sources say
The number of Quebecers hospitalized with the disease is expected to rise in the coming weeks, according to new modelling from the province’s health-care institute.
READ MORE: Quebec adds 2 new COVID-19 deaths as hospitalizations drop by 9
The weekly projections published Wednesday by the Institut national d’excellence en sante et en services sociaux (INESS) suggests an “upward trend in the number of new hospitalizations as well as the number of regular beds occupied by COVID patients’” in the next two weeks.
Meanwhile, the number of patients in intensive care units is expected to remain relatively stable.
The INESSS noted that COVID-19 represents a secondary diagnosis for over half of regular COVID-19 patients and about a third of ICU patients, meaning patients enter hospital for another reason but then test positive.
More to come
— with files from The Canadian Press
© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
