COVID-19 vaccine fourth-dose campaign for the general population that would be launched in the fall.Quebecers most vulnerable to serious consequences from the disease — seniors over 80, immunocompromised people and residents of long-term care homes — can start receiving a fourth dose of vaccine next week, health officials said Wednesday.
The same day, the immunization committee said the government should start planning to give second boosters out to everyone in a few months.In a written opinion released Thursday, the Comité sur l’immunisation du Québec recommended the government implement “a new vaccine strategy aimed at periodically boosting immunity against COVID-19 while also allowing for the ability to react to a possible emergence of a new variant of concern.”Quebec to offer 4th dose of COVID-19 vaccine to at-risk groups as cases, hospitalizations riseA mass second-booster campaign, the committee suggested, could take place in September or October and target “either all persons authorized to receive vaccines against COVID-19, or those usually targeted by the seasonal influenza vaccination program.”Currently, only 52 per cent of the population aged five and older have received a third dose of vaccine, according to provincial health data.The committee released an analysis of hospitalizations and deaths that occurred between January and mid-March indicating that people 80 and older were almost 200 times more likely to die of COVID-19 than those under 60, and 16 times more likely to be hospitalized.