Quebecers have booked more than 1M flu, COVID vaccination appointments: Dubé

Many Quebecers are making appointments to be vaccinated ahead of winter, when respiratory viruses are more likely to be transmitted.

“We have reached the milestone of one million (appointments) for vaccination against flu and COVID-19,” Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé said in a tweet on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday.

“We are observing a positive trend to act more in prevention, let’s continue in this direction by making (an appointment) to be vaccinated if it has not already been done.”

Citizens can make an appointment on the Clic Santé website. It is possible to receive the influenza vaccine and the COVID-19 vaccine during the same vaccination session.

The vaccines have been offered free of charge not only to the most vulnerable people, but also to the general population since Oct. 10.

The National Director of Public Health Dr. Luc Boileau made the announcement at a press conference a few days earlier.

He specified that the groups most vulnerable to developing complications from influenza or COVID-19 are people aged over 60, pregnant people, immunosuppressed people, people with chronic diseases and people living under the same roof or natural caregivers of the mentioned groups, in addition to health workers.

Those who are not part of the groups mentioned will also be able to receive a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine if they are over six months old.

The vaccine against pneumococcal infections is also offered to certain groups of the population.

The Quebec government has planned some 150 points of service for vaccinations, but did not plan to recreate massive sites as was done at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It will also be possible to obtain both the flu and COVID-19 vaccines in pharmacies.

The launch of this campaign coincides with the arrival of new vaccines developed to counter the multiple variants of COVID-19, including the XBB.1.5 sub-variant. The latest Moderna vaccine is among these. Pfizer-BioNTech’s Comirnaty, which has obtained the green light from Health Canada, will also be made available soon.

The vaccination campaign will be entirely financed from $270 million set aside in the Quebec government’s last budget specifically to carry out vaccination campaigns.

—This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French and translated by CityNews