MONTREAL Quebec is shortening the minimum time between first and second doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to eight weeks, Health Minister Christian Dube announced Thursday. Second doses of the vaccine will start being administered at walk-in clinics on Saturday to people who received their first dose before April 3, Dube told reporters in Quebec City. People who received their first dose after April 3 will be able to receive a second dose in early June, he said. Quebec had set 16 weeks as the period between first and second doses for all COVID-19 vaccines authorized in Canada. The Health Department said the decision to shorten the wait for AstraZeneca is based on advice from the province s immunization committee. It added, however, that a clinical trial has shown the vaccine is most effective if first and second doses are spaced 12 weeks apart.
All Quebec regions are expected to be out of the province s highest pandemic-alert level by June 7, Premier Francois Legault said Tuesday, as the situation in the province continued to improve.
Vaccination is going well, but we must continue this way, said Legault. We need your solidarity to continue to win together, he said, saying he was speaking directly to young Quebecers. Looking for a full breakdown of Quebec s reopening plan? Check out our guide here. SECOND DOSES LIKELY TO BE MOVED UP With the province expecting an influx of Pfizer doses in June, it may allow people to get their second doses earlier than planned. Our objective actually is very simple, said Dube. It is to bring all the second doses for September before the end of August. The provincial booking website is being adjusted accordingly, he said.
As Quebecers prepare to have health restrictions lightened on May 28, the province reported 433 new COVID-19 cases on Monday bringing the overall total of infections to 367,809 since the start of the pandemic.
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