Legault to announce reopening plan for Quebec as COVID-19 cases decline
Posted May 18, 2021 11:29 am.
Last Updated May 18, 2021 2:41 pm.
Seventy-five per cent of Quebec adults have received a COVID-19 vaccine or are booked to get one, Premier Francois Legault said Tuesday, a few hours before he is scheduled to release the government’s reopening plan.
“We are finally approaching our freedom! Thank you for making the difference!” the premier said on Twitter. Legault is to hold a 5 p.m. news conference in Quebec City alongside his health minister and director of national health.
For the second consecutive day, health officials Tuesday reported the lowest number of new daily cases since September. Officials reported 549 new COVID-19 infections and nine more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus, including four within the previous 24 hours. They said hospitalizations dropped by 17, to 484, and 118 people were in intensive care, a rise of two.
On s’approche enfin de notre liberté! Merci de faire la différence! pic.twitter.com/mNyh7JcC4F
— François Legault (@francoislegault) May 18, 2021
As of Tuesday morning, 49 per cent of all Quebecers _ 60 per cent of adults _ had received at least one vaccine dose, according to government data. Officials said 70,122 doses of vaccine were administered Monday, for a total of 4,469,055.
The government has set a goal of vaccinating 75 per cent of all adults in the province by the June 24 Fete nationale holiday.
“Thanks to the young people, we are on the way to achieving our goal,” Health Minister Christian Dube said Tuesday on Twitter. Vaccination bookings opened last week to anyone 18 years and up.
Meanwhile, Quebec’s Health Department said Tuesday in an email it is considering shortening the 112-day interval between doses for people who received the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. The province stopped giving first doses of that vaccine on May 13 because of concerns about rare cases of blood clots, and it is scheduled to receive 148,100 additional AstraZeneca doses this week.
Quebec has administered 528,027 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
