Covid-19: Bivalent vaccine in Quebec as of noon Thursday | Corona virus

During a press conference on the Covid-19 pandemic, the head of the Comité sur l’immunisation du Québec (CIQ), Dr. With Caroline Quach-Thanh, Dr. Boileau declared that people who wished to do so could have it. Get a new vaccine starting Thursday Friday morning for most vaccination centers, and some remote areas.

Booster vaccine says Two types Manufactured by Moderna. It was approved by Health Canada in early SeptemberIt targets the original 2019 SARS-CoV-2 virus and the Omicron variant.

It therefore provides better protection against omicron variants than the first-generation vaccine, according to studies on the formation of antibodies in humans, explained Dr Caroline Quach-Than.

” What we see is that with the bivalent vaccine, there are about 1.6 times more neutralizing antibodies against the omicron variants after a booster dose. […] The original vaccine. »

Because it’s a bivalent BA.1 vaccine, the response against the BA.4 and BA.5 types is a little worse, Quach-Thanh said. This is still about a 1.6-fold higher rate, but the amount of antibodies produced against BA.4 and BA.5 is lower because of the immunological evasion we see in the new strains.

As of noon Thursday, people going to vaccination centers will have a choice of getting the primary vaccine or the two-dose vaccine, though Dr. Boileau explained that it is not possible to say what will happen to current stocks of randomized vaccines. Useful. The director of public health promised to find out.

For those wishing to wait for the release of a more effective next version of the vaccine, Dr Kwach-Than explained that all currently available vaccines are effective. The idea is to vaccinate in time to be ready when the tide rises, rather than waiting for a specific vaccine.

According to the Ministry of Health and Social Services, only 23% of Quebecers currently have up-to-date Covid vaccine coverage.

Enhanced influenza vaccination campaign

As the arrival of autumn is a favorable period for the spread of seasonal flu, public health has decided to increase the flu vaccination campaign this year, which will start in early October rather than November, as is usually the case.

A flu shot can also be given at the same time as a covid shotDr. Boileau announced.

” We’ve looked at what’s happening in the southern hemisphere, and what we’ve seen is that flu activity has been ahead of average over the past five years. »

According to Dr. Kwach-Than, those who want to get both the flu vaccine and the Covid-19 vaccine can get it at the same appointment. Studies have shown that antibody production of the two vaccines is not affected by their co-administration, Kwach-Than pointed out.

Encouraging data

Meanwhile, the number of new Covid-19 cases in Quebec is still falling, thanks to a prolonged warm season, the national public health director said. Another encouraging aspect is that we continue to observe a decrease in absenteeism [dues à la COVID-19] In the health networkThe number of Covid-19-related absences in 2022 has never been lower in the network, Dr. Boileau continued.

The number of hospitalizations related to Covid-19 has dropped by 20% this week, Dr.

In its latest report released on Wednesday, 3,457 health workers were absent for reasons related to public health illness (preventive withdrawal, quarantine, waiting for results, etc.). There were 924 new cases, 13 new deaths and 78 additional hospitalizations compared to the previous day.