Quebec expanding COVID-19 booster shots, asking certain infected health workers to keep working

Quebec is expanding booster shot eligibility to people 18 and older on a gradual basis, starting in early January, as cases of COVID-19 are reaching record levels in the province.

Health Minister Christian Dubé said he expects to vaccinate the entire eligible population in Quebec with a third dose by March 2022.

On Tuesday, the province reported a record-breaking 12,833 new COVID-19 cases and 15 more deaths. Hospitalizations also rose to 702, up by 88 from the day before. 

Booster shots, currently only open to people 60 and older and certain vulnerable groups of people such as daycare workers, will be opened up to younger people by five-year age increments starting on Jan. 4. 

On Jan. 6, 2022, the Quebec government revised its booster dose eligibility schedule. Here is the new schedule for when more age groups will be able to book an appointment for a third dose of the vaccine:

• Jan. 6: 50 and older 
• Jan. 7: 45 and older 
• Jan. 10: 40 and older 
• Jan. 12: 35 and older 
• Jan. 14: 25 and older 
• Jan. 17: 18 and older 

People can book an appointment on the Clic Santé platform when they are eligible. The third dose is also being expanded as of Wednesday to other groups of people, including:

• private sector health-care workers
• workers in palliative care
• all school personnel (primary and secondary school as well as post-secondary education)
• public security workers (fire, police, correctional service workers, civil security workers)
• community organizations in the health and social service sectors
• agriculture and fisheries workers, including food inspectors and slaughterhouse workers

INFECTED HEALTH WORKERS TO CONTINUE WORKING UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS

The news comes as the health minister announced roughly 7,000 health-care workers have been sidelined due to COVID-19. That number is expected to grow to 10,000 “in the next few days,” according to the health minister. 

To avoid a further disruption in health-care services, some health-care workers are being asked to continue working under certain conditions despite testing positive for the coronavirus or being exposed to a positive case.

On a case-by-case basis, certain workers in hospitals and CHSLDs will be allowed to return to work after a "reduced" isolation period. 

"The Omicron contagion is so exponential that we must remove a lot of staff from the network, as I've explained, and that presents a risk on the network capacity to treat Quebecers," Dubé said. 

"But now currently, we must take very concrete and practical steps. This is risk management and the question of balancing things out."

This plan has been in the works for more than a week, and the rules behind it were laid out months ago in a provincial directive written during the spring wave.

The directive says that workers who have been exposed to the virus, but haven't themselves tested positive, will be the first to be recalled from their isolation in case of a critical staff shortage.

But as a "last resort," workers who are themselves positive or just got over a case of COVID-19 and are still meant to be in isolation may also be recalled to work, as long as they are assigned to "hot zones," working with COVID-19 patients.

Quebec's director of public health, Dr. Horacio Arruda, said Tuesday that if a worker "is not in good shape at all," he or she will not be asked to come in. But if the person has "soft" symptoms, they could return to work.

Health measures would still need to be maintained, such as requiring the worker and the patient to wear a face mask at all times. 

The ministry of health is looking at "all the measures" to retain health-care services, including possibly getting the support of about 300 Red Cross personnel, according to Dubé, who didn't provide any specifics on how or when additional help will arrive. 

DELAYS IN TESTING CENTRES

Health officials did not offer any hope on the testing front, as screening centres have been overwhelmed with long lines and delays in providing results to people who have been tested. Some Montreal residents have reported waiting for several days to get a result. 

During the news conference Tuesday, the head of the vaccination program, Daniel Paré, said the centres are at "maximum capacity" now and PCR testing should only be sought by people who have symptoms. 

"People have to isolate when they're symptomatic and take these basic precautions. And for those who have rapid tests, use them well," he said. 

"We're now at a stage where we have to protect ourselves in our screening centres and we will continue to maximize our capacity."

With testing centres not being able to keep up with the demand and rapid test results not being counted in the official tallies from the province, the government acknowledges that it does not have a true scope of the pandemic's fifth wave in Quebec. 

Dubé said the "context is changing so quickly" and that "we never would have thought a few weeks ago that we would have this many cases per day." 

For that reason, the government has given up on contact tracing efforts for every case and instead is focusing on vaccinating as many people as possible to keep hospitalizations down before they reach a critical tipping point. 

When asked if the province will re-introduce a curfew to curb the spread of the Omicron variant, the health minister said the government is looking closely at what other jurisdictions are doing before making a decision. 

In Quebec, there are roughly 600,000 people who are still unvaccinated -- a segment of the population that continues to be overrepresented in the province's hospitals, officials say.

Dubé said it will just be a matter of months before these people either choose to get the vaccine or wind up contracting the virus, "if the trend continues."

"If there is one group that can help us right now, it's the unvaccinated," he said.