Quebec will begin vaccinating people 85 and older next week – Montreal Gazette

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Clarification: An earlier version of this story discussed a media report that Quebec would start vaccinating people 70 and over. That report was incorrect.

Montreal — Quebec will begin vaccinating seniors age 85 and older against COVID-19 starting next week, Premier François Legault announced on Tuesday.

The announcement was made during a news conference in the atrium of the Olympic Stadium, one of Montreal’s mass vaccination sites.

“Vaccinating Quebecers is winning against the pandemic, so this is great news,” Legault said during the announcement.

“The hope is there. We see the light at the end of the tunnel and it’s not that far away. Within weeks our most vulnerable people will be vaccinated.”

Quebec will begin the campaign with people 85 and older, while prioritizing people living in the Greater Montreal area.

It will then move on to people who are 80, 70 and 60. The general population under the age of 60 will follow afterward. It is not yet clear when the next phases will begin.

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The vast majority of CHSLD residents have already received the first dose, as have a bit more than half of health-care workers in the public sector. The province is close to completing the inoculation of people in private seniors’ residences.

Quebec estimates there are 200,000 people who are 85 and older who don’t live in CHSLDs or private seniors homes. It expects to have the majority of them receive the first dose within two weeks.

People can sign up online starting Thursday by visiting quebec.ca/vaccincovid or calling 1-877-644-4545. Once people receive the first dose, they’ll be given an appointment for the second.

Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé said the government is looking into ways of reaching those who live alone or have mobility issues that would prevent them from going to a vaccination site, including working with community groups.

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Saying all indicators are trending in the right direction, Legault also said the government is looking into reopening more sectors following March break if the situation remains stable.

But he warned if Quebecers don’t respect the health measures in effect during the break, the situation could quickly turn around and cases could spike. Especially given the COVID-19 variants now circulating in the province, he added.

“Next week is a big test,” Legault said. “What happened during the holidays can’t happen again. It’s not time to hold gatherings in homes, cottages or hotels. We can’t end up with an explosion of cases.”

According to Statistics Canada, there are 753,760 people age 70 to 79 in Quebec. There are 326,644 people age 80 to 89, 78,965 age 90 to 99 and 2,835 seniors 100 and older.

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Quebec is expected to receive 600,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine during the next six weeks. The province received 107,640 doses this week and 28,500 doses of the Moderna vaccine.

This report will be updated.

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