During a press conference where he provided an update on the COVID-19 pandemic with Dr. Caroline Quach-Thanh, president of the Comité sur l’immunisation du Québec (CIQ), Dr. Boileau announced that people who so wish will be able to receive the new vaccine from Thursday in the vast majority of vaccination centers, and perhaps Friday morning for some more remote regions
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The booster vaccine says bivalent
is manufactured by Moderna. Approved in early September by Health Canadait targets the original 2019 SARS-CoV-2 virus as well as the Omicron variant.
It therefore offers better protection once morest Omicron variants than the first-generation vaccine, according to studies carried out on the generation of antibodies in humans, explained Dr. Caroline Quach-Thanh.
« What we see is that with the bivalent vaccine, we have regarding 1.6 times more neutralizing antibodies once morest the Omicron variants than following a booster dose […] original vaccine. »
<q data-attributes=""lang":"value":"fr","label":"Français","value":"html":"Comme il s’agit d’un vaccin bivalent BA.1, la réponse contre les variants BA.4 et BA.5 est un peu moins bonne, a précisé MmeQuach-Thanh. It still remains with a ratio of regarding 1.6 times more, but the quantity of neutralizing antibodies produced is less once morest BA.4 and BA.5 because of the immune escape that we see with the new variants. “,”text”:”As it is a bivalent BA.1 vaccine, the response once morest the BA.4 and BA.5 variants is somewhat worse, Quach-Thanh said. It still remains with a ratio of regarding 1.6 times more, but the quantity of neutralizing antibodies produced is less once morest BA.4 and BA.5 because of the immune escape that we see with the new variants. “”>As it is a bivalent BA.1 vaccine, the response once morest the BA.4 and BA.5 variants is a little worse, Quach-Thanh said. It still remains with a ratio of regarding 1.6 times more, but the quantity of neutralizing antibodies produced is less once morest BA.4 and BA.5 because of the immune escape that we see with the new variants.
As of Thursday noon, people who go to vaccination centers will therefore have the choice of receiving the initial vaccine or the bivalent, explained Dr. Boileau who was not however able to say what will happen to the current stocks of univalent vaccines, which are still effective. The director of public health, however, promised to find out.
To people who would be tempted to wait for the release of an even more effective next version of the vaccine, Dr. Quach-Thanh explained that the vaccines currently available are all effective. The idea is not to wait for a specific vaccine, but to be vaccinated at the right time to be ready when the wave rises.
Only 23% of Quebecers currently have up-to-date COVID vaccination coverage, according to the Ministry of Health and Social Services.
The advanced influenza vaccination campaign
Since the arrival of fall is also a time conducive to the spread of seasonal flu, public health has decided this year to move up its immunization campaign once morest influenza, which will begin at the beginning of October rather than November, as is usually the case.
Vaccination once morest influenza can be offered at the same time as that once morest COVID
announced Dr. Boileau.
« We’ve seen what’s happening in the southern hemisphere, and what we’ve seen is that influenza activity there has been earlier than the averages for the past five years. »
According to Dr. Quach-Thanh, people who wish to can receive both the flu vaccine and the COVID-19 vaccine in a single appointment. Studies have shown that the antibody production of the two vaccines was not affected by their co-administration, Quach-Thanh pointed out.
COVID-19: The new Moderna vaccine is coming tomorrow. Should I take it now, or wait? We are talking regarding it with the director of public health, doctor Luc Boileau.
Encouraging data
Meanwhile, the number of new cases of COVID-19 is still falling in Quebec thanks to the prolonged hot season, rejoiced the national director of public health. Another encouraging element is that we continue to observe a decrease in absences [dues à la COVID-19] in the health network
continued Dr. Boileau, pointing out that the number of absences related to COVID-19 has never been so low in the network in 2022.
Hospitalizations related to COVID-19 have fallen by 20% this week, according to Dr. Boileau.
In its latest report published on Wednesday, public health reported 3,457 health care workers absent for reasons related to the disease (preventive withdrawal, isolation, awaiting results, etc.). The report also reported 924 new cases, 13 new deaths and 78 additional hospitalizations compared to the previous day.
