Quebec vaccine plan for young children to involve schools, vaccination centres, minister says
CBC
With Health Canada finally approving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for young children, the Quebec government says it's putting the final touches on its rollout plan.
On Friday, Health Canada gave the green light to the the pharmaceutical company's vaccine, also known as Cominarty, for children aged five to 11, saying it's more than 90 per cent effective against COVID-19 in children.
With that announcement, 600,000 children in Quebec become eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, according to Health Minister Christian Dubé.
Dubé said the province's complete vaccination plan will be unveiled some time next week. But he did offer some details on Friday.
Dubé says the province wants to give each child one dose of the vaccine by Christmas — reiterating what was said earlier this month by Daniel Paré, the man overseeing the province's COVID-19 vaccination campaign.
"That would be a very nice Christmas gift," Dubé said during a news conference.
Dubé said he expects the vaccines to be administered both in schools and in vaccination centres. The goal is to make it easy for parents to be with their children as they're getting their shots.
"We're going to keep those vaccination centres open until Christmas just to make sure we allow the parents to accompany their kids."
Dubé also said he does not expect children to have to abide by vaccination passport rules once the campaign is in full swing.
More than 13 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the province.
The minister said he's not sure what the target vaccination rate will be for children between the ages of five and 11, saying he's hoping it will be as high as possible. He said he's hoping the vaccination campaign for that younger children will be as successful as the one for 12- to 17-year-olds.
According to the latest provincial data, 95 per cent of people in that age group have received two vaccine doses — the highest rate of any age group.
This story will be updated
Some energy experts are challenging N.B. Power’s claim that a proposed billion-dollar power plant is needed to avoid an electricity shortage predicted for 2028.
After walking a few laps around the shop, Maria Castagna picks up a glass ornament in the form of a pink, sparkly ice cream cone and smiles widely.
Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham says he has much unfinished work from his first term in office, as he prepares to make his pitch to voters ahead of the 2026 election.
Moving to Canada from Singapore meant losing close social connections for Iris Akbar, but Akbar says the gift was in finding an affirming space with friends that became like family.
Women and children staying at Regina Transition House now have access to Santa’s workshop — a safe space where mothers can choose Christmas gifts for their children.
A man from Powell River, B.C., is thankful to be alive after a stranger helped him while he was choking at a restaurant during a visit to Whistler.
When it comes to Hamilton readers' favourite library books of 2025, romance and mysteries are in close competition.
From the Detroit Lions losing to Apple iPhones that spontaneously update, Windsorites had things that bugged them this year.
Calgary emergency rooms are “in a state of critical overcapacity” ahead of the anticipated peak of flu season — and to cope with the surge and wait-room crowding, officials are urging doctors to speed up their decisions on whether to admit patients, according to a memo obtained by CBC News.
Northern Ontario's highway system needs improvements in order to make travel safer, a highway safety advocate said.
Hundreds of thousands of used tires are piling up across Ontario as some companies responsible for tire recycling have stopped processing tires amid reduced provincial recycling regulations for tire producers, industry experts say.
People in Guelph facing homelessness will soon have a new place to go during the day.
Islanders are reminded to plan their rides ahead of holiday festivities if they plan on drinking alcohol or using cannabis.