Quebec’s New COVID-19 Cases Rise to 815 as Province Prepares to Vaccinate Children – Montreal | The Canadian News

Quebec reported 815 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday and three more deaths related to the virus.

According to health officials, the hospitalization and intensive care figures were stable at 201 and 45, respectively.

The number of new cases is significantly above the seven-day average of 665.

Quebec Public Health says 2,190 people received a first dose of the vaccine and 3,524 received a second dose in the last 24 hours.

About 91 percent of the current eligible population ages 12 and older have received a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 88 percent are fully vaccinated.

READ MORE: COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker: How many Canadians are vaccinated?

Health authorities say there are currently 580 outbreaks in the province.

Quebec’s vaccination campaign continued with people 75 and older eligible to schedule appointments for a third booster dose this week.

Next week, pre-orders will open for those over 70, as well as for people who received two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Quebec to announce childhood vaccination plans next week

The province will soon begin vaccinating children between the ages of five and 11, after Health Canada approved a pediatric vaccine on Friday morning.

The Pfizer / BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was 90.7% effective against the new coronavirus in a clinical trial in children ages 5 to 11, the US pharmacist said on Friday.
The vaccine will require two doses of 10 micrograms each for children ages five to 11, one-third the adult dose. The National Immunization Advisory Committee (NACI) recommends that the two doses be spaced eight weeks apart.

READ MORE: Health Canada Approves Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine for Children Ages 5-11

Canada will begin receiving shipments of doses for young children on Sunday. The 2.9 million doses requested will be received by the end of the week.

The Minister of Public Services and Procurement, Filomena Tassi, said that this is a sufficient vaccine to provide the first doses to all eligible children in the country.
While Health Minister Christian Dubé told reporters that the government would reveal the details of its plan next week, the hope is to start as soon as possible.

–Filed from Reuters, The Canadian Press and Annabelle Olivier and Leslie Young, Global News

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