Youth can get a second dose after four weeks

Health Minister Christian Dubé shared on Thursday morning that the provincial public health authority has given the green light for youths aged 12 to 17 to move up the second dose of their COVID-19 vaccinations to as early as four weeks after their first. With that announcement, all people eligible to receive a vaccine in the province can now be considered fully vaccinated within six weeks of their first dose, taking into account a two-week period for the second dose to be considered effective. This stands in contrast to the province’s original system of 16 weeks between first and second dose, which was later rolled back to eight, and then four.
The Province of Quebec reported 65 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the total number of people infected to 376,109, with 655 active cases.
The total number of deaths linked to the virus so far increased by one, to reach a total of 11,232. Hospitalizations increased by two, to 81, while the number of people in intensive care decreased by two, reaching 23.
In the Eastern Townships another two cases were reported in Sherbrooke on Thursday, but the the total number of active cases in the region decreased to 18. Of those, none are from the Haute Yamaska, five are from Sherbrooke, two are from Des Sources, one is from the Haute-Saint-Francois, and one is from Granit. The number of hospitalizations remained unchanged, at five with no one in intensive care, and the number of deaths also remained stable at 352.
There were 103,535 doses of vaccine added to the provincial total as of Thursday morning, for a total of 9,752,346 doses administered in Québec. Added to the 29,782 doses that have been administered outside Québec, this makes for a total of 9,782,128 doses received by Quebecers so far, representing first-dose coverage in 72.3 per cent of the total population, and adequate vaccination in 44.6 per cent.
The next update on vaccination in the Eastern Townships is planned for Friday, but as of the most recent update this past Tuesday, 69.9 per cent of the local population had a first dose and 40.9 had a second.