Quebec is preparing to have another 21 COVID-19 vaccination sites operational across the province by next week, the Health Department said Thursday as it reported that there are now more than 1,000 people in hospital due to the virus for the first time since June.
Public health authorities reported 1,855 new cases of the novel coronavirus Thursday and 22 additional deaths.
The Health Department said that the number of people hospitalized due to COVID-19 rose by 27 from the previous day to 1,002. The number of people in intensive care rose by six to 134.
The new vaccination clinics will be in addition to the two vaccine distribution sites that opened this week at two long-term care homes in Montreal and Quebec City.
Health Minister Christian Dube said in a statement the 21 sites will be located in long-term care homes and in hospitals.
He said most of those sites should be operational by Monday and should have three weeks worth of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
The Health Department said 969 people in Quebec were vaccinated against the novel coronavirus Wednesday, bringing the total number of people vaccinated in the province to 2,582.
It expects 4,875 doses will have been administered by the end of this week.
