Quebec opens COVID-19 booster eligibility early for all adults as school year begins

All Quebecers 18 and older who got their last COVID-19 booster shot five or more months ago can now get another, Quebec's public health director announced Wednesday. 

Under Quebec's new mass vaccination campaign, adults were eligible for another dose as of next Monday. As thousands of CEGEP students returned to class this week and school-aged children are soon to follow, Dr. Luc Boileau announced the date has been moved up. 

"The vaccination campaign is progressing well — very well — but there is space for appointments," he said. 

Boileau also announced that a booster dose for vulnerable children aged five to 11 years old will be available and recommended as of next week. The news comes days after Health Canada authorized a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children in that age group. 

Meanwhile, Moderna's bivalent vaccine, which is specifically designed to protect against the highly contagious Omicron variant of COVID-19, should be available to the adult population in less than two weeks, Boileau said.

"When the new vaccine arrives, we will change [our current stock] for the new vaccine," he said. This is not because the current vaccine doesn't do its job in preventing severe infection, he clarified. 

Boileau said the province should be getting enough stock to immunize those most at risk of complications aged 18 and over.

'Not expecting any catastrophes' for back to school

As school-aged children head back to class this week and next, public health officials say it's quite possible to see an increase in COVID-19 cases.

"Back to school is a pivotal period when COVID-19 is likely to show signs of an increase that could possibly come sooner rather than later," Boileau said. "The virus is still circulating. We have a curve that is descending slowly, but it is still there."

Despite this, the public health director said there are no plans to bring back mandatory masking in classrooms or more ventilation.

"The global situation is different from what it was a year ago or even a few months ago," he said. "We do not think that there's a need for systematic mask wearing in school."

However, officials say this is the safest back-to-school season the province has experienced since the start of the pandemic. 

The global situation is different from what it was a year ago or even a few months ago.- Dr. Luc Boileau

Marie-France Raynault, senior strategic medical advisor for Quebec Public Health, said given that many students contracted COVID-19 over the summer, the surge during the first few weeks of schools may be blunted. 

"I'm not expecting any catastrophes," she said. "I think that our children will be able to continue to benefit from face-to-face education."

In addition to vaccinations, the province is also relying on rapid testing to slow the spread of COVID-19 in schools. All primary and secondary school students will be entitled to two boxes each of rapid tests from the start of the school year in order to improve the detection of the virus.

If a child is symptomatic, parents are asked to keep them home and test them. 

If a student begins to be symptomatic at school, they will be tested there. If the result comes back negative, they will be allowed to stay, but parents are asked to test their child again at home the following day.

If a child tests positive, they may return to school after five days but are asked to wear masks if their symptoms continue.

Infectious disease specialist, Dr. Caroline Quach, said despite a possible increase in cases, she doesn't expect to see severe infections or complications — especially due to the number of children that have been recently vaccinated or infected. 

"We're at this turning point," she said. "We will treat this virus like any other respiratory virus."