Here's The Order Quebec Plans On Giving The COVID-19 Vaccine To The Population

On Monday, Health Minister Chrisitan Dubé announced that the government is now ready to receive and distribute several thousand doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in Quebec. 

The rollout of the vaccine, developed by Pfizer, was first announced by the federal government, with around 249,000 doses arriving in the country by next week.

Quebec is getting an initial batch of 4,000 doses. 

"The arrival of a vaccine does not mean that we can relax health measures; on the contrary, we must continue our efforts. Now is not the time to give up, now that we are so close to the goal," said Dubé.

Here's everything you need to know about Quebec's COVID-19 vaccine rollout plan.

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How many doses is Quebec getting & when?

While Dubé underlined that the numbers are all approximate at the moment, the government plans to vaccinate hundreds of thousands of people in the next few months.

"Quebec is ready to start vaccination when we receive the first doses, starting next week," said the health minister. The first 4,000 doses will arrive in Quebec on Monday, December 14, 2020.

The government then aims to vaccinate between 22,000 and 28,000 people by January 4.

By the end of March 2021, the health ministry hopes that 650,000 Quebecers will get the COVID-19 vaccine. 

Who's getting the COVID-19 vaccine first?

The Quebec Immunization Committee has already detailed how the vaccine will be distributed based on "a preliminary opinion, the main objective of which is the prevention of serious illnesses and death."

The outline is subject to change, but this is the list of priority groups right now:

1. "Vulnerable people with a great loss of autonomy who reside in residential and long-term care centers (CHSLDs) or in intermediate and family-type resources (RI-RTF);"

2. "Workers in the health and social services network in contact with users;"

3. "Autonomous people or people with a loss of autonomy who live in private seniors' residences (RPA) or in certain closed environments housing the elderly;" 

4. "Isolated and remote communities;" 

5. "People aged 80 or over;'' 

6. "People aged 70 to 79;" 

7. "People aged 60 to 69;" 

8. "Adults under the age of 60 who have a chronic illness or health problem that increases the risk of complications from COVID-19;"

9. "Adults under 60 without chronic diseases or health problems increasing the risk of complications, but who provide essential services and who are in contact with users;" 

10. "The rest of the adult population."

The vaccine will be free of charge to everyone. 

Where will the vaccine be distributed?

Quebec has selected 20 sites: at least one site for each region, four sites in Montreal and two in Montérégie.

"Students and health professionals" will also be authorized to distribute the vaccine to the population, meaning that more workers will be able to lend a helping hand.

This article's cover photo is used for illustrative purposes only.