1) As Quebec ramps up #COVID19 vaccinations and is likely to surpass its goal of inoculating 650,000 people by the end of March, it’s now facing what is known as the “Peltzman Effect” — lowering one’s guard in a risky situation. Ironically, this is mostly due to the vaccines.
2) University of Chicago economist Sam Peltzman first described this phenomenon in 1975 in which people adopt riskier behavior in response to visible safety measures like widespread vaccination. Credit goes to physician-scientist @EricTopol for tweeting about this recently. 
3) Evidence is emerging of the Peltzman Effect in Quebec. On Saturday night, provincial and municipal police broke up an illegal gathering in a ski resort near Quebec City, fining 36 partygoers a total of $54,800. montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/il…
4) And on Sunday, thousands of protesters gathered in front of the National Assembly to urge Premier François Legault to loosen restrictions on sports. Although the overwhelming majority of demonstrators wore masks, there were a few anti-maskers in the crowd.
5) With #pandemic fatigue having set in long ago and spring around the corner, Quebecers are understandably eager to return to their normal routines before #COVID19, especially with the success of the vaccines. The problem is the proliferation of the variants.
6) On Sunday, Quebec posted 124 more presumptive cases involving the more contagious #COVID19 variants for a cumulative total of 1,700. And with the return to class of thousands of students on Monday, the province is likely to experience an increase in such cases.
7) Meanwhile, Quebec reported a total of 592 #COVID19 hospitalizations, the lowest tally since Nov. 16. None of Montreal’s 17 acute-care hospitals recorded any new #pandemic admissions on Saturday, the first time this has occurred in weeks.
8) Despite a few #COVID19 outbreaks in eldercare homes, there were 281 active cases in long-term care centres and seniors’ residences across Quebec. That compares with nearly 10 times as many cases in early January.
9) Vaccinators administered 15,329 first shots on Saturday, with more than 10,000 given in Montreal. To date, 6.5% of the Quebec population has been vaccinated, the highest rate of any province. Given this remarkable progress, it will be hard to counter the “Peltzman Effect.”
10) It’s worth stating the obvious: this #pandemic is far from over, as the #COVID19 surges in Europe and Brazil attest. The variants are on the march, and Quebec is far from achieving collective immunity against the #coronavirus. End of thread. Please limit your social contacts.
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