1) Quebec on Wednesday fell from second to third place in its #COVID19 vaccination rate among provinces, behind British Columbia. Surprisingly, Ontario is now in first place among provinces, as the chart below indicates.
2) What’s more, nearly 24% of Ontario’s population is fully vaccinated compared with 18.86% in Quebec. Clearly, Quebec has a lot more to do to find ways for younger adults to get vaccinated, including the possibility of paid leave to workers seeking second shots.
3) Despite lower-than-expected vaccinations and #COVID19 testing, Montreal continues to report reassuring numbers under the direction of its apolitical head of public health, Dr. Mylène Drouin. The chart below shows a decrease of 30 #COVID19 outbreaks in the city since last week.
4) What’s more, #COVID19 outbreaks fell for the second week in a row in every category in Montreal, as the chart below indicates. This is an unexpected development, because one would have anticipated at least one increase following the lifting of public health restrictions.
5) Montreal on Thursday posted 44 #COVID19 cases. For context only: On the corresponding date last year, the city declared just 17 cases (amid even lower testing). The chart below suggests a new lower plateau of cases in the 20-to-40 range.
6) Provincially, the number of #COVID19 outbreaks dipped by four to 139. The one troubling number was a doubling in of clusters associated with events, as the chart below reveals. This underscores the importance of continued mask-wearing and #PhysicialDistancing.
7) With the school year ending officially on Wednesday, the number of active #COVID19 cases among students and staff dropped by 32 to 393 across the province. There were 33 fewer classes shuttered and one school that had closed temporarily reopened.
8) Also Wednesday, Ontario reported 59 more Delta variant cases for a total of 975. So far, Quebec has reported a puzzlingly low 35 cases (half of which are Delta, half Kappa). This discrepancy alone between neighboring provinces calls for more vigilance in Quebec. End of thread.
Addendum: I have decided to take some time off from writing this thread, given that I’ve been producing this nightly since March 19, 2020. I’ve written enough tweets to fill two books on #COVID19 in Quebec.
Addendum 2: This doesn't mean I believe the #pandemic no longer poses a threat. It still does. But along with mostly everyone else, I think it’s time to enjoy one’s vacation, which I'll do with my beloved family, starting tonight on the eve of la Fête nationale (also my b-day).
Addendum 3: When I return to work in the second week of July, I will tweet threads on the #pandemic as warranted. I expect the true test will come with the start of the school and university year in September. Thanks for all the support and keep the comments and questions coming!
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1) Quebec on Tuesday fell from first to second place in its #COVID19 vaccination rate among provinces, ceding the coveted spot to British Columbia. This reflects the fact that Quebec has been struggling to encourage younger adults to go get their shots.
2) On Tuesday, Quebec Premier François Legault again suggested a vaccine lottery for those who have been immunized fully, but there are other incentives that might be more effective, like giving workers a paid time off to get their shots, as other provinces are doing.
3) As things now stand, at least 17.79% of Quebec’s population has been fully immunized and 70.3% partially. At the current rate of 600,000 vaccination a week, it would probably take another nine weeks to fully vaccinate most of the province’s population.
1) Quebec Premier François Legault floated the idea on Monday of a vaccine lottery to encourage younger adults to get their #COVID19 shots, this after a relatively low 57,000 doses were administered in the province on Saturday. montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/qu…
2) Although Quebec is facing a delay in a Pfizer shipment that was supposed to be delivered over the weekend (and will arrive instead on June 24 or June 25), the latest stats show that Quebecers aged 18 to 29 still trail other demographics, including 12 to 17-year-olds.
3) With the province opening up this summer and #COVID19 variants circulating, full vaccination is critical. But on Monday, just 16.87% of Quebec’s population was fully immunized, up from 16.25% the day before. Quebec can and should do much better.
1) Quebec on Friday reported five more cases of the feared P.1 variant, including a single case for the first time in the Capitale-Nationale region. In this thread, I will provide an update on the more transmissible variants circulating in the province.
2) The P.1 variant has been responsible for the massive third wave in Brazil that has caused tens of thousands of #COVID19 deaths. But to date, Quebec has reported 30 confirmed cases of P.1. That compares with 645 in Ontario, 944 in Alberta and 2,063 in British Columbia.
3) The predominant variant by far in Quebec is B.1.1.7. Quebec’s public health institute reported 364 more sequenced cases of B.1.1.7., which was first detected in the U.K. Montreal continues to post the highest number of B.1.1.7 cases in the province.
1) Even as Quebec has made laudable progress in reducing the number of #COVID19 hospitalizations while ramping up vaccinations, hot spots remain — a warning that the #pandemic will probably continue here for months to come. In this thread, I will examine some of those hot spots.
2) As of Wednesday, 35% of Quebec’s population had been partially inoculated and 3.69% had received the second dose. Federal guidelines recommend vaccine coverage of 75% with one dose and 20% with two doses to achieve collective immunity.
3) Among the potential #COVID19 hot spots are hospitals and eldercare homes. Emergency-room workers at St. Mary’s Hospital received their first doses of the Pfizer vaccine in January, and 18 still got infected in an outbreak. montrealgazette.com/news/local-new…
1) In my Twitter thread yesterday, I wrote about how Montreal has continued to defy the odds in the third wave. But that doesn’t mean the #pandemic is over in the city — far from it. In this thread, I will highlight some lingering problems.
2) First, the number of #COVID19 outbreaks in the city inched up by four to 281 since last week. What’s more, the majority involve the more transmissible variants. Still, the head of the Montreal public health department cautioned that the clusters are small. See the chart below.
3) And although #COVID19 outbreaks decreased in the workplace in Montreal since a week ago, they increased in grocery stores. Clusters also went up in both health-care institutions and schools, likely fueled by the variants. Please take a look at the chart below.
1) At least one in four Montrealers who's received a first vaccine dose has by now built up enough immunity to not only fend off a #COVID19 infection, but to limit the spread of the virus in the city. In this thread, I'll explore the subject of vaccine coverage in the metropolis.
2) As of April 10, two weeks ago, 25.94% of Montreal’s population had received one #COVID19 vaccine dose. That means that the more than 15,000 people who got vaccinated on that date are now considered to have built up enough immunity, along with those who were inoculated before.
3) Obviously, this segment of the population needs the second dose, the sooner the better. But for now at least, the mass vaccinations appear to have blunted the third wave in Montreal, along with the #pandemic restrictions.