Almost 45 per cent of eligible Quebecers are boosted, COVID-19 hospitalizations drop again

Why the long wait to approve vaccine for young kids Dr. Christopher Labos explains why it’s taking so long to approve the Pfizer vaccine for kids under five, and if parents shouldbe concerned.

As the province prepares to reopen restaurant dining rooms on Monday, Quebec reported on Sunday that there are now 3,621,187 people in the province who have received a third booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine, which is 44 per cent of the eligible population.

That number comes after health-care professionals in the province administered 36,033 more booster shots in the past 24 hours.

The Ministry of Health says there are now 2,895 hospitalizations due to the novel coronavirus, a decrease of 80. The ministry says 180 patients checked into hospitals in the province, and 260 were discharged.

There were 119 new patients over 60 years old with 46 of those triple-vaccinated, 44 double-vaccinated, 28 unvaccinated and one person who had received one dose of vaccine. Of the 61 patients under 60, 27 were double-vaccinated, 15 unvaccinated, nine triple-vaccinated, two having received one dose and one between five and 11 years old, who was vaccinated. Seven patients were under five years old and ineligible to receive a vaccine dose.

Intensive care unit numbers increased by two, bringing that total to 233 after 22 patients were either admitted or transferred to ICUs. Of the new patients in ICUs, 14 were over 60 with seven double-vaccinated, four unvaccinated and three triple-vaccinated. There are six new ICU patients under 60 with three of those double-vaccinated, one triple-vaccinated and two under five years old.

Eleven more people have died due to the disease, bringing the total number of death due to the novel coronavirus to 13,190, the province says.

There were 28,491 samples analyzed after PCR tests and 2,838 of those were positive making the positivity rate 11.4 per cent.

The ministry is monitoring 1,480 active COVID-19 outbreaks.