Image d’illustration
AFP
Health authorities in Quebec, Canada’s second-largest province by population, on Wednesday recommended a fourth dose of the Covid vaccine to octagenarians and the most vulnerable people.
“We are making this additional dose available to people (…) who could be exposed to a drop in vaccine effectiveness in a context where there is more contagion”, declared at a press conference the national director of the Public Health of Quebec, Dr. Luc Boileau.
As elsewhere in the world, Quebec is observing “an increase in cases and an increase in hospitalizations”.
In this province of some 8.6 million inhabitants, “more than three million” people have already contracted Covid-19. More than 2,000 new daily cases were announced on Tuesday.
“50% of the cases are now cases of BA.2, this new variant which is the cousin of Omicron”, explained Dr Boileau.
The fourth dose will be offered from next week, in particular in rest homes for the elderly. Anyone who can demonstrate to health authorities that they are “vulnerable” to the virus will be able to obtain this new injection.
This announcement comes at a time when the French-speaking province, like all the other provinces of Canada, has lifted most of its health measures in recent weeks.
Canada, through provincial governments, had some of the strictest anti-Covid health rules in the world since the start of the pandemic.
The latter were the subject of an unprecedented protest movement in January, when demonstrators occupied the capital Ottawa and other cities across the country to demand their removal.
In Quebec, wearing a mask remains mandatory until April 15.
On Tuesday, several European countries were criticized by the WHO for having “brutally” ended their health rules.
The number of Covid-19 cases has started to rise again recently in several regions of the world. In Europe, this increase is notably observable in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Greece, France, Italy and Germany.