Quebec flip-flops on vaccination eligibility for caregivers 60 and over

Health authorities need to conserve doses for the 70-plus age group, West Island health director Lynne McVey said.

Author of the article:

Marian Scott • Montreal Gazette

The entrance to the COVID-19 vaccination clinic at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium on the first day of Quebec’s mass-vaccination campaign. Photo by Pierre Obendrauf /MONTREAL GAZETTE

After announcing Monday that caregivers 60 and older in Montreal and Laval could get the COVID-19 vaccine, public health authorities backtracked Wednesday, saying only those 70 and up are eligible.

In a race against time to vaccinate vulnerable elders before new variants spread, health authorities need to conserve doses for the 70-plus age group, West Island health director Lynne McVey said at a press conference with Montreal public health director Mylène Drouin.

“We have enough vaccine to vaccinate everyone in Montreal who is 70 years old and over,” said McVey, CEO of the CIUSSS de l’Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal.

The flip-flop was the latest in a series of confusing announcements on which age groups are eligible for the vaccine.

Last Thursday, Quebec opened registration to people 85 and older. On Friday, eligibility was expanded in Montreal to those age 80 and older. On Sunday, the age limit was lowered to 75 in Montreal and Laval. On Monday, when the mass vaccination campaign opened, it went down to 70 in those cities, while it was lowered to 80 in the rest of the province.

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The provincial health department said Monday that the changing rules on which age groups were eligible were because of the evolution of the virus in different regions and the availability of the vaccine.

Health authorities said on Monday that caregivers age 60 or older in Montreal, who provide support three or more days a week to a senior age 70 or over, could get the vaccine at the same time as the person they cared for by booking in advance.

Asked whether caregivers in their 60s who made an appointment will still be able get a shot since eligibility has now been restricted to people age 70 and over, McVey said she was awaiting instructions.

“We will be receiving directives from the ministry of Health and Social Services on this with respect to the appointments that have already been taken,” she said.

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So far, 35 per cent of Montrealers age 80 and older have been vaccinated, while 11 per cent of people between 70 and 79 have been given the jab, Drouin said.

“The massive vaccination campaign is going well,” she said.

More than 135,000 doses have been administered in Montreal since vaccinations started in December, Drouin said.

More than 62,000 health-care workers, 22,000 residents of private seniors’ homes and 10,000 residents of long-term care facilities have been vaccinated, Drouin said. About 1,100 homeless people and 400 people who work with the homeless have also been vaccinated, she added.

“We expect (the vaccination campaign) will progress very quickly, considering the increase expected in the coming weeks,” she said.

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However, Drouin raised the spectre of a third wave of the virus caused by the spread of more contagious variants. The U.K. variant, also known as B.1.1.7, which accounted for 12 per cent of new cases in Montreal a week ago, now accounts for 15 per cent, she said.

Community transmission of that variant is particularly present in Côte-St-Luc, Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and Outremont, Drouin said. Most of the new cases are among schoolchildren from age five to 17 and their parents, she said.

The current challenge is to delay the variants’ spread until much of the population, particularly vulnerable seniors, have received the vaccine, she said.

“Vaccination is the best weapon against COVID-19,” McVey said.

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Wait times have improved at the 15 vaccination centres on the island of Montreal since Monday, she said, when many elderly clients complained of long lineups in some locations. McVey urged people to show up for their vaccine no more than 10 minutes before their appointment.

mscott@postmedia.com