December 14, 2020
Statement from Premier Brian Pallister on Manitoba's First COVID-19 Immunization Clinic
This afternoon, I had the opportunity to tour Manitoba’s first COVID-19 immunization clinic, which has been set up to begin administering the life-saving immunization to protect the first group of high-risk health-care providers this week.
Pending the safe arrival of the first limited supply of immunizations in Manitoba as scheduled in the days ahead, the clinic is ready to tentatively start vaccinating the first priority group of health-care workers Wednesday morning. To date, 668 workers have booked appointments and appointments for 232 workers remain available.
We want to express our gratitude for those workers for stepping up to protect themselves, their patients and their fellow Manitobans as we begin our immunization campaign. We also want to thank everyone in the first priority group for their patience in making appointments and understanding that there are not enough vaccines for everyone in the initial shipment. We are constantly looking to improve our processes.
I personally want to thank our hard-working team and partners in the health-care system for months of significant work to prepare for the most challenging public health situation our province has ever faced. Our COVID-19 Vaccine Implementation Task Force have been working diligently to ensure our immunization roll out is as safe and effective as possible to protect Manitobans most at risk of this deadly virus. The clinic has been set up in a safe and efficient manner, using updated technology for screening clients and data surveillance.
Manitoba is scheduled to receive enough doses of the Pfizer vaccine to immunize 900 people. Based on recommendations from the task force, the first vaccines, which are administered during two separate appointments, will be reserved for higher-risk health-care workers who work in immunization clinics or critical, acute or long-term care facilities.
At this time, because of the extremely limited supply, we are reminding Manitobans that these first appointments are reserved for specific front-line health-care providers. A dedicated phone number to book an appointment has been shared internally within the health system for booking purposes. We ask only those eligible for an appointment to use that phone number at this time.
I ask Manitobans for their patience and understanding at this crucial time as we gradually roll out our immunization program as more vaccines become available and arrive in Manitoba. We will continue to provide regular updates to inform Manitobans when and how they can receive a life-saving vaccine.
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