With hospitalizations in Quebec once again on the rise, health officials encourage booster shots

For the first time in months, Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé appeared at a COVID-19 news conference, signalling health officials are concerned about a rise in hospitalizations. 

The number of hospitalizations linked to COVID-19 in Quebec has risen above 2,000 for the first time since mid-August. While Dubé encouraged more people to get booster shots, he also sought to reassure Quebecers about the pandemic situation in the province. 

He said more than 100,000 people per week have received a booster shot since Aug. 15 and that the number of people in hospital with the virus remains lower than the previous wave of cases over the summer.

Dubé also said the new Pfizer bivalent COVID-19 booster will be available in the coming days in Quebec. The booster is considered safe for the 18-to-29 age group, according to the Health Ministry.

"This isn't an exponential rise like we saw previously. It's not being felt in intensive care. It is different from the seventh wave in the summer," the health minister said, sitting alongside Public Health Director Dr. Luc Boileau.

Dubé said what is most worrisome is the rise in cases elsewhere in the world, including in Europe. 

"The health network is still fragile. We have to give ourselves the tools to protect the network and that's with vaccination," he said.

Experts say global context cause for concern

But Roxane Borges Da Silva, a professor at Université de Montréal's school of public health, said Dube's message is too positive. The situation is worsening in Europe, she said, adding that in France, nearly 95,000 new COVID-19 cases were detected Tuesday and hospitalizations have risen significantly.

"The context is not so reassuring," she said in an interview Wednesday, adding that the impact of new variants remains unknown and that the arrival of flu season at a time when COVID-19 hospitalizations are rising could put heavy pressure on Quebec's health-care system.

"Their positivism worries me, because it sends too positive a message compared to the uncertainty that we face this fall," she said about Dubé and Boileau.

Dubé said the best way to protect the health-care system is for people to get a COVID-19 vaccine booster, adding that anyone whose last shot was more than five months ago, or whose last infection was more than three months ago, should get another dose.

Da Silva said she thinks encouraging people to get vaccinated is the right message, but she added that more should be done to promote it.

"It's necessary to send a reassuring but strict, serious message that it is absolutely necessary to be vaccinated," she said.

Dr. Matthew Oughton, an infectious diseases specialist at Montreal's Jewish General Hospital, said this year's flu season is expected to come early and be harsher than usual because of a particularly severe influenza strain in circulation and because people have been less exposed than normal to that virus over the past two years.

Australia just experienced its worse flu season in five years, he said.

"The flu season hit them early, it hit hard, it seemed to cause a high, high burden of disease, particularly in children and teenagers."

Quebec has made the flu vaccine available a month ahead of schedule, a decision Oughton said he applauds. But he too said more needs to be done to encourage COVID-19 vaccination.

The government, he said, shouldn't rule out bringing back mandatory masking in places where there are large public gatherings, if there is a "sudden surge of severe viral infections."

Respiratory etiquette

While Dubé said people should think about wearing masks more frequently, he added that the government has no plans to implement any restrictive public health measures.

"There is no need at this time for new measures, we just need to wear the mask when it's needed, and I think that's very important, but also the key message today is go get your booster shot as soon as possible," Dubé said.

He said anyone who has symptoms of COVID-19 should wear a mask in public indoor spaces, calling it "respiratory etiquette."

Dubé said older and more at-risk age groups have received boosters at a higher rate than other age groups since August. Thirty nine per cent of the 70- to 79-years-old group have received a booster shot, and 52 per cent of the 80 and over group have. 

People who have not had a shot of a vaccine against COVID-19 in the past five months and people whose last bout of the virus was three or more months ago are encouraged to get vaccinated. 

Boileau, the public health director, struck a more concerned tone. 

"With this eighth wave, we're in a situation where clearly there's a rise in circulation of this virus," Boileau said, adding that some variants are now more contagious than measles.

The Health Ministry is reporting a rise of 207 COVID-19 hospitalizations from the prior day, for a total of 2,030, including 595 people who are in hospital because of the disease.

It's the highest number of people in hospital with the disease in Quebec since Aug. 10.

Officials say 52 people are in intensive care with COVID-19, including 19 people hospitalized because of the disease.

The Health Ministry is also reporting 14 more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus, including three that occurred within the past 24 hours.