During his Thursday-afternoon update Quebec’s Health Minister Christian Dubé said that the province is working to have the necessary infrastructure to administer the COVID-19 vaccine in place by January, even if the vaccine itself is not available until later. Seated alongside Premier Francois Legault and Provincial Public Health Director Dr. Horacio Arruda, Dubé said that the plan is to rely on the existing system for influenza vaccination as a baseline for the COVID shot, when it is made available.
To the latter issue, Legault said that he is waiting on news from Ottawa.
Earlier in the day on Thursday, Quebec’s Education ministry announced that the cancelled and then re-started elections for English-language school boards in the province would be postponed again in order to respect the holiday “moral contract.”
Quebec reported 1,464 new cases on Thursday, bringing the total number of people infected to 136,894. The data also report 32 new deaths, for a total of 6,947. The number of hospitalizations increased by 20 compared to the previous day, for a cumulative total of 675.
Due to an update of provincial figures, not all local data was publicly available on Thursday, but the Estrie region saw a significant jump in cases from the day before, with 116 new positives being recorded. The Number of deaths also increased, going up by three to a total of 60. The number of hospitalizations, meanwhile, decreased by two, to 22, and the number of people in intensive care dropped by three to four.
Among local outbreaks, Bishop’s University and the Vigi Shermont subsidized private care home both saw significant jumps in the number of confirmed cases among their populations, with the school reporting another 14 and the home adding 22: 6 staff and 16 residents.
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