Montreal Public Health announced Friday that it is no longer accepting walk-ins at designated COVID-19 vaccination sites on the island of Montreal for the AstraZenecca vaccine.
On Tuesday, the Quebec government announced it was lowering the age of eligibility for the AstraZeneca brand from 55 to 45, starting Wednesday morning.
Montreal’s generation Xers heeded the call and showed up in droves eager to get a shot.
In a news release, Montreal public health said the vaccination blitz was an overwhelming success, that in two days all AstraZeneca doses reserved for walk-ins had been used up.
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Those who booked an appointment online for the AstraZeneca vaccine, however, will still get their dose.
“With the appointments confirmed in the next week, more than 20,000 AstraZeneca vaccines will have been administered in the metropolis,” the health agency said.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante was among those who jumped at the chance to get an inoculation.
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On Friday, she tweeted that she’d worn her Rosie the Riveter T-shirt for the occasion because “I consider the vaccination operation a war effort.”
“Thank you to all the employees who make the operation so smooth and welcoming,” she wrote.
J’ai mis mon chandail de Josie la Riveteuse pour recevoir la première dose du vaccin d’AstraZeneca, parce que je considère que l’opération de vaccination est un effort de guerre. Merci à tous les employé-es qui rendent l’opération si fluide et chaleureuse. #polmtl pic.twitter.com/h68CtzfEVO
— Valérie Plante (@Val_Plante) April 23, 2021
In the past two days, the province has been smashing vaccination records. The province administered 88,000 shots on Thursday, surpassing the 85,000 vaccinations given a day earlier.
Health Minister Christian Dubé says Quebec has now delivered 2.6 million first jabs — 50 per cent of the goal of getting 5.3 million adults their first shot by June 24.
— With files from Global News’ Kalina Laframboise
