Quebec Drops Recommendation That All Should Get COVID-19 Booster

Quebec public health director Dr. Luc Boileau gestures during a news conference in Montreal on Feb. 2, 2023. The Canadian Press/Ryan Remiorz

Quebec is no longer recommending that everyone get a booster shot and is instead advising it is only for those who are considered at risk for severe COVID-19 and who haven’t already been infected, the province’s public health director says.

Speaking at a press conference on Feb. 2, Dr. Luc Boileau said booster shots for Quebecers who have achieved hybrid immunity—through COVID-19 vaccination and infection—are unnecessary.

“People with hybrid immunity have a very good protection against a severe form of the illness,” the health director said. “And this immunity lasts for a long enough time that we can propose changes.”

According to Boileau, 75 percent of Quebecers aged 60 and younger have had COVID since the beginning of the pandemic in the winter of 2020. As for people over 60, about half have been infected.

He said those who took the vaccine but haven’t been infected are also protected against the virus except that their immunity “has a tendency to drop with time.”

Quebec now targets booster shots at the following groups provided they have never had COVID-19:

• Residents of long-term care homes (CHSLDS), private seniors’ home (RPAs), and other group settings with a high proportion of elderly and vulnerable individuals
• People aged 60 years and older
• People aged 5 years and older who are considered to be at high risk for complications
• Healthcare workers
• Pregnant women
• Adults living in remote and isolated areas

“A booster dose is also recommended for people aged 5 years and older who are immunocompromised or on dialysis, regardless of their history of COVID-19 infection,” said the government’s official site.

The site said the mentioned groups should get a booster shot six months after their last dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

Boileau said COVID-19 vaccines will remain available to anyone who wants one.

“We won’t refuse anyone,” he said.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.