COVID-19 in Quebec: What you need to know on Friday

• Quebec reported1,043 new caseson Friday and 15 more deaths.
• Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 342,688confirmed cases and10,860people have died.
• There are 684 people in hospital (a decrease of 27), including 172 in intensive care (a decrease of two).
• 88,006vaccinedoses were administered in the last 24 hours for atotal of2,679,907 sinceDec. 14.

Montrealers aged 45 and up hoping to still walk up and get theAstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine are out of luck.

By Friday afternoon, all of the city's vaccine centres announced that they had used up their remaining vaccines that were available for people showing up without an appointment.

People with appointments will still be able to get their shot and, if some are no-shows, other slots may open up.

Health MinisterChristian Dubsays the province is now halfway to its goal of vaccinating every Quebecer who wants a dose by June 24.

A record 88,000 doses were administered Thursday, Dubsaid, bringing the overall total to 2.6 million first doses.

Next priority group

The province has announced a longer list of people with chronic illnesses, as well as mental and physical disabilities, that qualifyfor the COVID-19 vaccine.

Starting Friday, people with chronic illnesses between the ages of 18 and60, will be able to sign up for appointments at vaccination centres or pharmacies. They no longer need to be hospitalized, as was originally stipulated.

The full list of eligible conditions can be found here.

No proof will be required for the group and appointments can be made via theQubec.ca/vaccinCOVIDwebsite.

Those with a physical or intellectual disabilitycan book an appointment as of April 28.

Passenger flights from India and Pakistan banned

The federal government has banned passenger flights from India and Pakistan for 30 days.The ban is being imposed to deal with concerns over India's rising case loads and mutations of the coronavirus.

In a joint letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau releasedThursday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Quebec Premier Franois Legaulturged the federal government to reduce the number of incoming international flights and secure theCanada-U.S. land border.

PremierFranois Legaultsaid the announcement comes as a welcome decision.

"The variants are many and contagious. Ottawa has to do more to protect the population," Legault wrote on Twitter.

A first case of B1617, a COVID-19 variant first detected in India, was identified in Quebec's MauricieCentre-du-Qubecregion earlier this week.

Top COVID-19 stories today

• Why some experts say Quebec's plan to give different vaccine as 2nd dose is safe and necessary.
• Nearing COVID-19 capacity, some Quebec hospitals forced to send patients elsewhere.
• Despite pandemic restrictions, cases of sexually transmitted infections are soaring in Montreal.
• Canada's supply of vaccines set to ramp up in coming weeks.
• Workplace vaccination launched in one of Quebec's hardest-hit regions.