Vaccines open to people 60 and over in Monteregie, Outaouais

'Must act in prevention': Que. tightens red zones Quebec Premier Francois Legault announced that Montreal and other red zones will return to tighter COVID-19 restrictions.

Montreal — With additional doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on the way, the age limit to receive a shot has been lowered in more regions outside of Montreal.

The ClicSante website showed Tuesday morning that the age limit is now 60 and older in the Outaouais and Monteregie. Abitibi-Témiscamingue and the North Shore are also vaccinating people 60 and older.

Elsewhere, vaccines are still limited to people 65 and older.

It also appears that Quebec could move onto the next priority group for vaccine distrbution. Health minister Christian Dube said in a tweet Tuesday morning that the province is adjusting operations, which he noted "is normal when changing priority group."

He also said people with chronic illnesses and essential workers will be vaccinated "soon," but did not provide further details.

His social media comments come ahead of a special 5 p.m. news conference Tuesday with Premier Francois Legault and public health director Horacio Arruda.

The province is expected to receive 230,490 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine this week, according to the federal government, while 176,400 Moderna doses and 71,600 AstraZeneca doses are also set to arrive in the same period.

On Monday, Dube praised the vaccine roll-out campaign on Twitter, saying in a post that it has been going “extremely well.” He noted that more than 75 per cent of Quebecers 65 and older have received their first dose of the vaccine or have booked an appointment.

However, the province only administered half the vaccine doses on Sunday that it did on Saturday and the previous days. Data released Monday showed there were 22,494 doses given out in the last 24 hours, while more than 40,000 doses were administered in each of the last six days.

There are also calls for a strict lockdown in Montreal and pressure to vaccinate more front-line workers, including daycare providers.

The Quebec Association of Private Daycares (AGPQ) and the Association of Non-Subsidized Daycares (AGNSI) asked the government to “grant daycare staff the recognition they deserve and offcer vaccination against COVID-19 in order to maintain services.”

Both associations said they fear the effects of the third wave on their workforce.

With just over 18 per cent of the population in Quebec having had their first shot, the latest figures from the province show that province has administered a total of 1,552,215 doses of COVID-19 vaccines.

Legault has said he expects all adults in Quebec to be vaccinated by June 24.