Quebec adjusts its COVID vaccination recommendations

Quebec's Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) is now recommending vulnerable Quebecers get a single dose of the COVID-19 vaccine adapted for new variants.

"A single dose of the new vaccine, administered this fall, is now sufficient for a person to be considered adequately protected," the ministry announced in a news release today.

It also says Quebecers do not have to try to calculate how many doses they need based on how many they have already received and how many times they have caught COVID.

"The number of vaccine doses to be administered is no longer influenced by the presence or absence of a confirmed previous infection nor by the number of doses previously received," it said.

It also said that it will come out with new recommendations about followup doses at a later date.

Quebecers who fall in the following categories are encouraged to get the shot:

• people living in public and private long-term care homes or residences with a high proportion of seniors.
• people over the age of 60.
• Immunocompromised people who are six months old and older.
• Health-care workers.
• People who are pregnant.
• Adults who reside in remote and isolated areas.

This applies to everyone except for children under five years old and immunocompromised people who have never received COVID-19 vaccine shots. It is recommended that they get additional shots.

The ministry still recommends waiting six months after a COVID infection to get the jab but will permit people to get the vaccine after only three months under certain circumstances for the sake of convenience.

The ministry is also no longer telling people between the ages of 12 and 29 to avoid the Moderna vaccine. It says that, given the reassuring data emerging about the risk of heart inflammation, both Moderna and Pfizer are safe.

Over 830,000 doses have been administered in the province so far, according to the ministry.