Moderna’s Omicron COVID-19 vaccine booster available in Quebec Thursday
Posted September 7, 2022 10:08 am.
Last Updated September 7, 2022 7:05 pm.
Many Quebecers can start receiving Moderna’s new Omicron-targeted vaccine beginning Thursday afternoon.
The booster will be available in most mass vaccination sites as of 12 p.m.
In other parts of the province, the booster will be made available starting Friday.
The updated shot was approved by Health Canada last week for use in adults 18 years of age and older.
The agency says the new mRNA-based vaccine is “indicated as a booster dose for the prevention” of COVID-19.
The proposed dosing regimen is “an interval of at least four months” after a primary series of shots and/or a previous booster dose in people 18 and up.
But the booster is not recommended for people under 30 because they present a higher risk of myocarditis, Dr. Caroline Quach-Thanh, the president of Quebec’s Immunization Committee, said at Wednesday’s press conference.
She says people under 30 are advised to stick with Pfizer but can choose the new Moderna shot if they prefer.
Roughly 800,000 doses of Moderna’s booster are expected in Quebec.
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Quebec’s director of pubic health, Dr. Luc Boileau, said cases and hospitalizations in Quebec are dropping and that health officials are happy the epidemiological situation. is improving.
Boileau says there are fewer employee absences in the health sector.
The timing could not be better, he said at Wednesday’s press conference alongside, with temperatures beginning to drop, students returning to school and people doing more activities indoors.
Boileau did say the province’s flu shot campaign would start at the beginning of October, which is earlier than usual. Health officials will hold a press conference with more details soon to explain why it was pushed up this year.
“We are trying to get our people who are at risk to be well vaccinated to be able to confront the flu and COVID,” said Boileau.
“With that we’re preparing our system to take all the measures to prevent the spreading of those cases in our hospitals.”
Quebec reported on Wednesday that COVID hospitalizations increased by 78 patients compared to the previous day, with 13 virus-related deaths added to its total.
Vaccination rates
-56 per cent of those eligible have gotten a third dose, with 906 boosters administered in the last 24 hours
-21 per cent of those eligible have gotten a fourth shot, with 6,824 doses of the second booster administered in the last 24 hours
-close to 17K+ doses administered last 24 hours, 20.8M+ total so far
For more: Quebec.ca
