At a press conference held on April 7, 2021, the Quebec government announced that adults with chronic illnesses and essential workers will be the next priority groups eligible for vaccination under the government’s COVID-19 vaccination program.

NEW PRIORITY GROUPS ELIGIBLE FOR COVID-19 VACCINATION

The Quebec government has indicated that essential workers with at-risk contacts will be among the next priority groups for its vaccination campaign. It should be noted that the concept of “essential worker” does not refer to workers in sectors that were deemed essential and therefore not subject to mandatory closures under previous confinement measures. In this case, “essential worker” refers to workers in sectors where there are significant risks of outbreaks.

The Quebec government has identified seven priority groups in sectors that have struggled previously to control the risk of outbreaks: elementary and secondary school staff, childcare and daycare centre staff, public safety staff (i.e., firefighters, police and detention centre employees), staff working for community organizations that provide health and social services, slaughterhouse staff in the food industry, mining staff in remote regions and temporary foreign workers.

For the time being, the extension of the vaccination campaign to these priority groups will be limited to the Island of Montréal region, with other regions to follow as soon as a sufficiently large portion of the population aged 60 and over has been vaccinated.

Workers in these groups whose place of employment is in Montréal may be vaccinated as of April 12, 2021, regardless of their age, by registering on the Clic Santé website. During their appointment, workers will need to provide proof of their employment in one of the identified sectors in order to be vaccinated. Employers in these sectors could therefore provide their employees with a certificate or other document attesting to their sector of employment and therefore allowing for their employees to be vaccinated. The document provided should also specify that the worker’s workplace is in Montréal.

The Quebec government also indicated that mobile vaccination clinics would be set up for staff at detention centres and agricultural workers in remote areas.

More information on these measures may be found on the Quebec government’s website.