January 18, 2021
COVID-19 Vaccine Bulletin #26
Manitoba’s Focused Immunization Teams (FITs) continue to immunize residents at personal care homes (PCHs) across the province. First doses of the vaccine will now be given to all eligible PCH residents by the end of January, more than a week ahead of initial projections. Last week, teams visited 10 personal care homes, and all consenting and eligible personal care home residents were immunized with their first dose. This week, residents at 51 personal care homes will be immunized throughout the province.
The province’s broader immunization plans have been adjusted based on recently announced delays or reductions in Pfizer vaccine shipments from the federal government, which are expected to continue for at least another month. Based on Manitoba’s current inventory and revised delivery projections, another 4,000 first-dose immunization appointments will be available at the Winnipeg and Brandon super sites this week and next week.
To date, 17,751 doses of vaccine have been administered including 15,607 first doses and 2,144 second doses.
The vaccine super site at the Keystone Centre in Brandon opened today. As announced on Jan. 15, the launch of Vaxport in Thompson will be temporarily paused due to the Pfizer vaccine shipment delay. However, 500 first-dose appointments will be made available at a new super site in downtown Thompson that will open on a transitional basis starting Feb. 1 until further inventory is available. More information will be provided when eligible individuals are able to book appointments, closer to that date.
Manitoba will release additional details on the next steps of its immunization campaign later this week.
All new appointments were paused on Friday, Jan. 15 due to the uncertainty caused by the Pfizer vaccine supply disruption. However, Manitoba has revised its updated projections based on new forecasts received from the federal government detailing the revised vaccine delivery schedules.
Eligibility criteria will be expanded on Tuesday, Jan. 19 to include health-care workers who provide direct care in:
• long-term care facilities including PCHs (expanded to include all ages, previously limited to those born Dec. 31, 1983, or earlier).
The call centre will re-open tomorrow at 6 a.m. for eligible Manitobans to make an appointment at a super site in Winnipeg or Brandon, with appointments for Thompson becoming opened closer to Feb. 1.
For more information as it becomes available, follow @MBGov on Twitter or visit www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/vaccine/eligibility-criteria.html.
To date, Manitoba has received 46,290 doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines:
• 17,751 doses have been given to eligible Manitobans (first and second doses);
• 34,975 doses are scheduled to be used in the next 28 days for planned immunizations at super sites and at personal care homes through Manitoba’s FITs using both existing inventory and future, reduced inventory; and
• 5,300 doses of Moderna are allocated to First Nations.
Manitoba is not holding back vaccine for second doses. However, as recommended by expert medical advice and the vaccine manufacturers, Manitoba will not book first-dose appointments unless there is either known inventory or a future federal delivery of vaccine that will allow the second-dose appointment to be booked within 21 days. This approach allowed Manitoba to be one of the few provinces to respond to the recent Pfizer supply chain disruption without cancelling existing appointments.
Delivery schedules are set by the federal government. Manitoba is notified of the delivery amount for each week but is not advised of which day the vaccine will arrive.
This means Manitoba will always have a managed level of inventory to ensure enough vaccine is available for booked appointments and to respond to unexpected delays related to weather or other logistical issues.
Allocations to First Nation communities will not be affected by the Pfizer vaccine supply disruption, as their allocation is the Moderna vaccine.
Updated vaccine projections are available at https://manitoba.ca/covid19/vaccine/reports.html.
The province will be launching an online vaccine dashboard this week to provide regular updates on the immunization campaign. Going forward, Manitoba will provide detailed immunization plans every Wednesday. However, in light of the recent significant changes to Manitoba’s supply chain, Manitoba is providing this update today, which will be further refined in the coming days.
All data in this bulletin is current as of Jan. 17. At this time, this data does not include planned vaccinations in First Nations communities. The Manitoba government continues collaborative discussions with First Nations leadership in respect of their publication of vaccination data specific to First Nations.
More information about the vaccine campaign in Manitoba is available at www.manitoba.ca/vaccine.
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BACKGROUND INFORMATION ATTACHED
backgrounder
Background Information - https://www.gov.mb.ca/asset_library/en/newslinks/2021/01/PDF-COVID_Vaccine_26-HL.pdf