COVID-19 in Quebec: What you need to know Tuesday

• Quebec reported 1,234 new cases ofCOVID-19 on Tuesday and five new deaths.
• Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 457,059 confirmed cases and 11,594 people have died.
• There are 235people in hospital (an increase of nine), including58 in intensive care (adecrease of four).
• The province has administered 13,798,356doses of theCOVID-19 vaccine, including 20,776 doses in the last 24 hours.
• 86 per cent of the eligible population in the province (age five and up) hasreceived one dose of vaccine, and 81per cent hasreceived two doses.

Note: Quebec's vaccination rate has been adjusted to include five- to 11-year-olds, causing the overall percentage to drop. Vaccinations for the group began last week.

Quebec'sHealth Ministry does not publish the number of vaccines administered on weekends and public holidays.

The Quebec government has announced an easing of public health rules for this holiday season.

As of Dec. 23, parties can include up to 20 people who are fully vaccinated.

But Health Minister Christian Dub said it is still important to limit contacts and behave responsibly.

Public Health Director Dr. Horacio Arruda said it would be very unwise for unvaccinated people to hold large gatherings, or for guest lists to include a mix of non-vaccinated and fully protected people.

Booster shots

The Quebec government has announced that health-care workers can now get their booster shots.

Dub, Arruda andDaniel Par, director of the vaccination campaign in Quebec, held a news conference at 1 p.m. to announce the details.

Currently in Quebec,booster doses are only available to people over 70, to people with weakened immune systems and to people who had received two doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

But people aged 60 and over will have to wait for the beginning of January to get theirs. Dub said the reason for the delay is that the province has just enough staff right now to administer vaccines to seniors, young children and those already eligible for boosters.

Last week, Canada'sNational Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) strongly recommendeda booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine for all Canadians 50 and older.

The recommendation also extends to health-care workers,Indigenous people and those living in congregate care settingsandall those who only received the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The committee is also recommendingCanadians aged 18 to 49 get a third mRNA shotat least six months after they got their second.

Quebec-made vaccine shows 'high efficacy' against COVID-19

A Quebec-madeCOVID-19 vaccine is now gearing up to be submitted to Health Canada for approval.

Medicago,a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Quebec City,said its vaccinehas shown high efficacy against infection during Phase 3clinical trials.

According to a news release, the vaccine's overall efficacy rate against all virus variants studied was 71 per cent, with a higher efficacy rate of 75 per cent against COVID-19 infections from the delta variant.

If licensed in Canada, the shot would be the first COVID-19 vaccine using virus-like particle technology and the first plant-based vaccine ever approved for human use, Brian Ward, medical officer for Medicago, said during a recent interview with CBC News.

"This would be a first for the world," he added, "not just for Quebec and Canada."

No community spread for omicron: public health institute

Quebec's public health institute says it did detailedtesting of samples from almost 900 positive COVID tests on Nov. 30 and found that none of them contained the omicron variant.

That one day snapshot seems to indicate that there is no community spread of omicron in the province,theInstitut national de sant publique du Qubec reported Monday.

At this point, there is still only one case of the variantin Quebec: a traveller who returned from Nigeria in November. Other travellers and their contacts are being followed to see if any have contracted omicron.

Quebec families with kids in daycare get access to rapid-tests

Daycares will be distributing the kits of five tests to parents and guardians, aschildren under the age of fiveare still too young to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

A total of 1.5 million tests will be handed out, as part of efforts to reduce the number of outbreaks in daycares and CPEs.

More than half of all outbreaks in the province are now tied to daycares, preschools, and elementary schools.

Hospitalizations expected to rise in coming weeks

Hospitalizations related to COVID-19 are expected to rise across the province, a government health-care research institute said Thursday.

The number of cases hasnearly doubled over the past month, which could correspond to a 30 per cent increase in hospitalizations, the institute, known by its French acronym INESSS,said in a projections report released Thursday.

Those aged 70 and over represent 35 per cent of all hospitalizations in the province, though the number of cases in intensive care has remained stable.

While the increase in cases can be seenacross all age groups,young people aged 12 to 17have been hit the hardest, with cases in that age group increasing by 53 per cent.

The current projections do not account for the omicron variant. The institute said the effect of omicron will be incorporated "when reliable estimates of its transmissibility, severity and [vaccine efficacy] are known."

Top COVID-19 stories

• Ottawanixing molecular COVID test requirementfor Canadians taking short trips abroad: sources
• Quebecbacks down again on mandatory vaccination in health network
• Vaccines won't be mandatory for teachers, school staff as Quebec COVID-19 situation improves
• Doctorconvinced vaccine hesitant patient attendant to get her shotwith patience and respect
• Takea look inside:How a Montreal hospital deals with ongoing staffing shortages