April 7, 2021
COVID-19 Vaccine Bulletin #61
Two telephone towns halls focused on the province’s COVID-19 immunization campaign will be held next week. Participants will include Health and Seniors Care Minister Heather Stefanson, Dr. Brent Roussin, chief provincial public health officer, and Dr. Joss Reimer and Johanu Botha from the province’s Vaccine Implementation Task Force.
A session for rural and northern Manitoba will take place on Tuesday, April 13 at 6:30 p.m. A session for people living in Winnipeg will be held on Thursday, April 15 at 6:30 p.m. Registration is open until noon on the day of the events. To participate, people can register at https://engagemb.ca/.
Eligibility Criteria
Eligibility to be immunized at a super site or pop-up clinic has been revised to include individuals aged 62 or older and First Nation people aged 42 or older. Anyone who has been in Manitoba for one month or more can receive the vaccine at no cost if they meet provincial eligibility requirements.
A shipment of more than 54,000 doses of AstraZeneca/Covishield vaccine has been distributed to medical clinics and pharmacies across the province. The province has updated its guidance on who is eligible to receive this vaccine. It includes people aged 55 to 64 with specific high-risk health conditions that put them at higher risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19, as well as all people aged 65 and older, with priority given to people who might be unable to attend a super site or pop-up clinic.
Appointments
Appointments are currently available at super sites in Winnipeg, Brandon, Thompson, Selkirk and Morden. Limited appointments at pop-up clinics are available, because of delayed vaccine shipments.
Eligible individuals can book their appointment at a super site online at https://protectmb.ca with an email address and their health card number. Appointments for super sites or pop-ups can also be made by calling (toll-free) 1-844-626-8222 (1-844-MAN-VACC).
Individuals who wish to be vaccinated at the same time as their spouse/partner are encouraged to wait until both people are eligible before making appointments. It is not possible to accommodate people without an appointment at pop-up clinics or super sites.
When attending a vaccine appointment, people are reminded to bring their completed consent form (available online at https://protectmb.ca), wear a short-sleeved shirt, wear a mask, and bring their health card or other form of identification. To help support good physical distancing on site, people should arrive no more than 15 minutes before their scheduled appointment time.
Vaccine Administration
To date, 222,130 doses of vaccine have been administered including 158,128 first doses and 64,002 second doses.
Focused Immunization Teams continue to provide first-dose immunizations to people in congregate living facilities. This week, teams will visit more than 100 locations across the province.
The province is currently working to address delays in data entry. This is currently causing an under-reporting of the actual number of doses that have been administered to date.
Vaccine Supply and Distribution
To date, a total of 409,470 doses of vaccine have been delivered to Manitoba. This includes:
• 246,870 doses of Pfizer vaccine;
• 90,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine; and
• 72,600 doses of the AstraZeneca/Covishield vaccine.
This week, Manitoba expects to receive 11,500 doses of AstraZeneca/Covishield.
Medical clinics and pharmacies will continue to be displayed on the COVID-19 Vaccine Shot Finder, located at www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/vaccine/finder.html. The map will be updated with new information later this week as providers finalize their information for the site based on this week’s deliveries.
Workforce
To date, 2,086 people have been hired to assist with Manitoba’s vaccination efforts including immunizers, clinic managers, clinical leads, system navigators and observers. This is in addition to 1,226 staff who have been assigned to COVID-19 immunization efforts from regional health authorities, bringing the total of new hires and existing staff to 3,312.
To support the vaccine campaign, the province is actively recruiting navigators across the province. Navigators are a non-clinical role and help to direct and support clients throughout their appointment.
Additional Information
All data in this bulletin is current as of April 6, unless noted otherwise.
Manitoba’s daily maximum capacity measures the number of doses the province could give every day, if vaccine supply was not an issue. Currently, daily maximum capacity is 20,918 doses per day, which exceeds the province’s initial target of reaching 20,000 doses per day by April.
Based on scientific evidence of the effectiveness of the first dose, Manitoba is focusing its immunization efforts on providing as many first doses as possible to protect more people. At this time, only first-dose appointments are available and the province will provide more information about planning for second doses in the weeks ahead. For regular updates, visit https://protectmb.ca and sign up for the weekly e-newsletter.
More information about the vaccine campaign in Manitoba is available at www.manitoba.ca/vaccine and https://protectmb.ca.
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BACKGROUND INFORMATION ATTACHED
Backgrounder
Background Information - https://www.gov.mb.ca/asset_library/en/newslinks/2021/04/BG-COVID_Vaccine_61_.pdf