MONTREAL

People in Montreal age 70 and over can now make appointments for COVID-19 vaccines

Published Sunday, February 28, 2021 8:08PM EST Last Updated Monday, March 1, 2021 7:19PM EST

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MONTREAL -- As of Monday morning, Montrealers 70 and over can now book an appointment to get a COVID-19 vaccination.

In much of the rest of Quebec, receiving the vaccine is limited to those over the age of 85. That had been initially lowered to 80 for Montreal, then 75 on Sunday, and 70 on Monday morning.

Laval and Cote-Nord have also reduced their minimum age to 70.

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Montreal residents can register on the Clic Sante website or by calling 1-877-644-4545. A postal code is needed to make an appointment, but shots are free, and a health card is not required. One person can recieve a dose per booking.

"The vaccination campaign is gaining speed," said the regional health board's spokesperson Jean Nicolas Aube, who said people aged 70 and up could get a coronavirus vaccine as early as that afternoon.

"Vaccines constitute our best weapon against COVID," said Aube. "It's very positive news. It means we have the capacity."

According to public health officials, the city has the capability to administer several thousand doses per day.

A map of the announced vaccination sites in Montreal can be found here.

Montreal vaccine

People aged 70 and up wait to receive the coronavirus vaccine at Decarie Square on Monday, March 1, 2021. (Billy Shields, CTV News)

Roughly 700,000 doses of vaccine are scheduled to arrive in Quebec over the next four weeks. That does not include doses of the Astrazenica vaccine that was approved by Health Canada last week.

CONFUSION LEADING UP TO MONDAY

In the days prior to opening day, several people have complained of problems with Quebec's booking system.

One resident told CTV News Thursday he had called the province 20 times schedule an appointment for his 102-year-old mother and couldn't get through.

He said that when he tried the website but was dumbfounded when he saw that there was no option to select his mother’s year of birth: 1918. The drop-down menu stopped at 1920.

He said he had to lie to get an appointment.

READ: 'I had to lie': Problems plague first day of Quebec's vaccine registration system

Even on Monday morning, CTV News recieved messages from people who say they've had trouble booking a slot.

“By the end of the day or tomorrow all these problems should be solved,” said Francine Dupuis, the Associate CEO of the West Central CIUSSS. “It’s a new system, it’s never been used, it’s brand new. We knew some minor problems would arise, but it’s nothing that can’t be fixed.”