People wait in line at a walk-in clinic to receive a dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in Montreal on April 11, 2021.Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
The COVID-19 lockdown order across three Quebec regions will be extended for an additional week, Premier François Legault said Tuesday, adding that Quebeckers shouldn’t expect a return to normal before the end of June.
Schools and non-essential businesses will remain closed and the nighttime curfew will be at 8 p.m. until at least April 25 in Quebec City; the Chaudière-Appalaches region, south of the provincial capital; and in Outaouais, in western Quebec.
The restrictions, which had previously applied only in parts of Chaudière-Appalaches and Outaouais, will be expanded to cover the entirety of those two regions starting Wednesday, the premier added.
“The situation is serious and could continue to worsen,” Legault told reporters in Quebec City. “The situation is fragile everywhere in Quebec. With the variant, no region is immune.”
An 8 p.m. curfew will also remain in effect in Montreal and its northern suburb of Laval, Legault said, adding that for the moment, schools and non-essential businesses in those two cities will remain open.
Canada pre-purchased millions of doses of seven different vaccine types, and Health Canada has approved four so far for the various provincial and territorial rollouts. All the drugs are fully effective in preventing serious illness and death, though some may do more than others to stop any symptomatic illness at all (which is where the efficacy rates cited below come in).
- Also known as: Comirnaty
- Approved on: Dec. 9, 2020
- Efficacy rate: 95 per cent with both doses in patients 16 and older, and 100 per cent in 12- to 15-year-olds
- Traits: Must be stored at -70 C, requiring specialized ultracold freezers. It is a new type of mRNA-based vaccine that gives the body a sample of the virus’s DNA to teach immune systems how to fight it. Health Canada has authorized it for use in people as young as 12.
- Also known as: SpikeVax
- Approved on: Dec. 23, 2020
- Efficacy rate: 94 per cent with both doses in patients 18 and older, and 100 per cent in 12- to 17-year-olds
- Traits: Like Pfizer’s vaccine, this one is mRNA-based, but it can be stored at -20 C. It’s approved for use in Canada for ages 12 and up.
- Also known as: Vaxzevria
- Approved on: Feb. 26, 2021
- Efficacy rate: 62 per cent two weeks after the second dose
- Traits: This comes in two versions approved for Canadian use, the kind made in Europe and the same drug made by a different process in India (where it is called Covishield). The National Advisory Committee on Immunization’s latest guidance is that its okay for people 30 and older to get it if they can’t or don’t want to wait for an mRNA vaccine, but to guard against the risk of a rare blood-clotting disorder, all provinces have stopped giving first doses of AstraZeneca.
- Also known as: Janssen
- Approved on: March 5, 2021
- Efficacy rate: 66 per cent two weeks after the single dose
- Traits: Unlike the other vaccines, this one comes in a single injection. NACI says it should be offered to Canadians 30 and older, but Health Canada paused distribution of the drug for now as it investigates inspection concerns at a Maryland facility where the active ingredient was made.
How many vaccine doses do I get?
All vaccines except Johnson & Johnson’s require two doses, though even for double-dose drugs, research suggests the first shots may give fairly strong protection. This has led health agencies to focus on getting first shots to as many people as possible, then delaying boosters by up to four months. To see how many doses your province or territory has administered so far, check our vaccine tracker for the latest numbers.
Health Minister Christian Dubé confirmed Tuesday that a woman in Quebec has experienced blood clots associated with the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, adding that she is now doing well. It’s the first case of blood clots associated with that vaccine reported in Quebec.
In late March, Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommended that the AstraZeneca vaccine not be given to people under 55 because of concerns about reports of rare occurrences of blood clots in Europe.
Canada vaccine tracker: How many COVID-19 doses have been administered so far?
Dr. Horacio Arruda, Quebec’s public health director, told reporters Tuesday that while there is a risk of blood clots associated with every one in 100,000 doses administered, the vaccine is safe and the risk of similar health problems caused by COVID-19 is significantly higher.
Quebec City’s main hospital network, called CHU de Quebec – Université Laval, said Tuesday it will begin cancelling surgeries and appointments on Wednesday because of the rising number of COVID-19 patients.
“We’ve had 20 additional hospitalizations in two days,” health network spokesman Bryan Gelinas said in an interview, adding that the number of patients with COVID-19 has been rising for around two weeks.
Around 100 surgeries a week and several hundred outpatient appointments will be postponed, Gelinas said, as staff are transferred to treat COVID-19 patients.
Earlier on Tuesday, Dubé announced that more than two million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the province. He said 25 per cent of Quebeckers have received at least one dose.
Public health authorities said 56,620 doses of vaccine were administered Monday, for a total of 2,005,106.
Dubé said that across Quebec, some essential workers as well as people with certain serious illnesses will be eligible to get vaccinated starting Wednesday. Vaccinations have only been open in Montreal for essential workers and people with chronic illnesses.
People aged 60 and over across the province are eligible for the shot, and those 55 and over can get the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Legault had repeatedly said that Quebec will be able to tolerate more cases of COVID-19 once older, more vulnerable people are vaccinated. But on Tuesday, he said that due to the rising number of younger people in hospital with the disease, Quebec will not be able to start thinking about a return to normal until far more adults are vaccinated.
“The number of people under 60 years old going to hospital is increasing – it has doubled compared to the first wave,” he said, adding that the situation in the province will be “tough and uncertain” until everyone is vaccinated.
He said the government remains committed to giving a vaccine to every adult who wants one by the Fête nationale holiday on June 24.
“June 24 remains the date when we can hope to start thinking about normality,” he said. “We still have 73 days – 73 days and after that it will be summer.”
Quebec reported 1,490 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday and 12 more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus, including three in the previous 24 hours. The Health Department said the number of hospitalizations rose by 13, to 643, and 150 people were in intensive care, a rise of eight.
Quebec City reported the highest number of new cases, with 341, followed by Montreal with 300.
There are 406.9 active cases per 100,000 people in Quebec City, according to the province’s public health institute. The only other region in the province with more than 300 active cases per 100,000 people is the Chaudiere-Appalaches region with 346.8.
Across Quebec, there are 154.3 active cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 people.
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