Another 98 Quebecers die due to COVID-19 as hospitalizations decrease
An additional 98 Quebecers have died due to COVID-19, a total of 12,639 since the start of the pandemic.
However, officials note there are 14 fewer Quebecers in hospital to be treated for the virus, with 3,411 people currently occupying beds.
Intensive care admissions remain stable, with 285 people receiving care.
Of the new hospitalizations, 18 are under the age of four (an age group not eligible for vaccination), 93 are unvaccinated or received their first dose less than 14 days ago, 11 have one dose of vaccine, 151 received their second dose of vaccine more than seven days ago and 79 received their third dose more than seven days ago.
Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé points out vaccination does not completely prevent infection, but it does decrease the risk of dire consequences.
The province's seven-day average is now 6,175.
On Jan. 18, a total of 43,139 samples were analyzed.
Quebec is reporting 6,528 new recorded COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of people infected to 818,947 since the start of the pandemic.
Public health officials note the actual number of new infections is probably much higher as they have asked people with mild symptoms to stay home and isolate to give those in high-risk groups access to PCR testing.
VACCINATION CAMPAIGN
Quebec's health care professionals administered 110,351 more vaccinations in the province; 104,205 doses in the last 24 hours and 6,146 doses before Jan. 19 for a total of 16,801,574 doses.
Outside Quebec, 263,787 doses were given, for a cumulative total of 17,065,361.
As of Jan. 19, a total of 7,338,819 Quebecers, or 90 per cent of the eligible population aged five and up, have received their first dose of a vaccine and 6,717,855 people, or 82 per cent, have received two.
Of those eligible for a third dose, 2,942,947 Quebecers, or 36 per cent, have received it.
VARIANT TRACKER
The Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) did not update the number of new variant cases Thursday morning.
The data current stand at 6,701 Omicron (B.1.1.529), 33,309 Delta (B.1.167.2), as well as 45,665 Alpha (B.1.1.7), 460 Bêta (B.1.351) and 610 Gamma (P.1).
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Poor air quality, evacuations in multiple provinces due to wildfires
Wildfire smoke prompted warnings about poor air quality for many regions across the country, stretching from northern Alberta to the Atlantic.

Poilievre threatens to filibuster budget bill if Liberals don't meet demands
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is threatening to use procedural tools to delay passage of the federal budget in the House of Commons if the Liberals don't meet his demands.
Conservatives call on feds to see killer Bernardo returned to maximum-security prison
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he understands how 'shocked and appalled' Canadians are at the decision by the Correctional Service of Canada to transfer Paul Bernardo to a medium-security prison.
EXCLUSIVE | Pride events in Canada facing higher security costs, feds offer $1.5M
The federal government will be providing $1.5 million to Pride organizations across the country for increased security measures at parades and other events this year, CTV News has learned.
Prince Harry a no-show on first day of court showdown with British tabloid publisher
Prince Harry's phone hacking trial against the publisher of the Daily Mirror kicked off Monday without him present -- and the judge was not happy.
Inquest opens into 2017 deaths of Hydro One workers killed in helicopter crash
An inquest into the deaths of four Hydro One employees killed in a December 2017 helicopter crash in eastern Ontario has begun.
Flair tops Canadian airlines with average number of complaints per 100 flights: CTA
The Canadian Transportation Agency says Flair Airlines Ltd. has the highest number of complaints per 100 flights of all the major airlines in Canada, as airlines have had a rocky recovery year with delayed and cancelled flights.
WATCH | Safety campaign shows falls, close calls involving kids in train stations
Australia's transit society Queensland Rail is using CCTV video of real-life falls and near-miss involving children at train stations in a new safety campaign.
Anand: China irresponsible over Taiwan Strait collision risk with Canada, U.S. ships
Defence Minister Anita Anand says Beijing acted irresponsibly on the weekend in the Taiwan Strait, where Washington says a Chinese warship forced a U.S. vessel to avoid a collision near a Canadian frigate.