MONTREAL -- Health Minister Christian Dube said Friday that Quebec set a new record for the number of vaccine injections given in a single day, as more 110,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccines were administered on Thursday.

In total, Quebec added 112,925 vaccination doses, including 110,119 injections in the past 24 hours bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 4,127,768, which is 46.1 per cent of the population.

Quebec has received 4,578,079 doses of vaccine.

The minister said he is especially proud of Quebecers aged 25 to 29 because 50 per cent of that demographic has already received their first shot or booked their appointment for inoculation.

As of Thursday, all adults aged 18 and up are eligible to book their appointments via the government's Clic Santé website.

Last Tuesday, Quebec Premier Francois Legault launched an appeal to young people, strongly encouraging them to get vaccinated. He said he believes Quebec is well on its way to defeating the disease's third wave.

Nevertheless, data from the Quebec Institute of Public Health (INSPQ) indicates young people still need some convincing to get vaccinated.

Data collected between April 16 and 28 show that among respondents aged 25 to 34, 15 per cent do not intend to get vaccinated. This proportion is 14 per cent among 18 to 24-year-olds and 11 per cent among 35 to 44-year-olds.

Of those reluctant to be vaccinated, 24 per cent say they do not trust vaccines in general; 18 per cent say they fear possible side effects and 14 per cent do not see the point of inoculation, believing the risks to their health are low even if they are not vaccinated.

An equal proportion of 10 per cent each of those resistant to the vaccine say they have concerns about effectiveness, as well as about the novelty of vaccines.

These three age groups also had the highest number of people who said they who didn't know if they would get vaccinated.

QUEBEC NUMBERS

On Friday, Quebec reported that 838 more people tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours bringing the total number of infections to 361,820 since the start of the pandemic. 

Of those, 343,142 are reported to have recovered, an increase of 972.

The INSPQ is reporting that there are now 7,653 active COVID-19 cases, which is 142 fewer than on Thursday.

The province also added eight deaths due to COVID-19, including two in the past 24 hours, and six between May 7 and May 12.

After decreasing for three days straight, hospitalizations rose on Friday with health-care authorities announcing that 10 more patients are receiving care for COVID-19 in Quebec hospitals than there were Thursday. In total, 530 Quebecers are hospitalized for the virus including 123 people in intensive care wards, an increase of two.

On May 12, 36,776 samples were analyzed. 

VARIANT TRACKER

The INSPQ reported Friday that 360 of the positive COVID-19 cases were variants.

The total number of variant cases in the province is now 5,894, including 5,237 B.1.1.7 variants, 312 B.1.351 variants, 251 P.1 variants and 94 B.1.525 variants. There has also been one B.1.617 variant case confirmed.

REGIONAL DATA

The highest increase in COVID-19 cases in Quebec were reported in Montreal (238 new, 128,426 total), Monteregie (90 new, 49,675 total) and Chaudiere-Appalaches (84 new, 18,189 total). 

Quebec City also added 70 new cases (32,126 total), Laval added 65 (30,619 total), and the Eastern Townships reported 64 new cases (14,029 total).

Three deaths were reported in Chaudiere-Appalaches (335 total), two in Montreal (4,700 total), and one death was reported in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean (268 total), Outaouais (208 total), and Laval (906 total).

- With files from The Canadian Press.