Quebec will have another COVID-19 vaccination campaign this fall: Dubé

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QUEBEC — A vaccination campaign against COVID-19 will take place this fall, Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé announced on Wednesday. The details concerning this campaign will be known “in the next two weeks,” he said.

Dr. Luc Boileau, Quebec’s director of public health, will issue his recommendations for the management of COVID-19 by the end of August, Dubé said.

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“I would say to Quebecers (that) it is certain that there will be a vaccination campaign.”

Boileau’s recommendations will determine whether the vaccines will be intended for a specific clientele, such as the elderly or people with a weakened immune system, for example.

However, “we will never prevent someone from going to be vaccinated if he was not in this clientele,” Dubé stressed.

He also said he is closely monitoring the situation regarding Omicron’s new sub-variant, Eris.

“There has been a certain increase in cases, we are talking a bit about an increase in hospitalizations, but not at the level of intensive care,” Dubé said, adding that it is reassuring that the increase is limited to “regular hospitalizations.”

For now, it is recommended that people who contract COVID-19 self-isolate for a few days, until their symptoms resolve.

Rapid screening tests for COVID-19 were available free of charge in Quebec pharmacies until last May. They are now distributed free of charge at vaccination centres.

Asked about their return to pharmacies, Dubé replied that the availability, or not, of free rapid tests in pharmacies will be part of Boileau’s recommendations.

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