Manitoba is opening up COVID-19 vaccinations to the general population, starting with those 95 and older and First Nations people 75 and older.
Dr. Joss Reimer, head of the province’s vaccine implementation task force said Wednesday caretakers of those now eligible will be allowed to both book appointments and accompany their older loved-ones to get their vaccinations.
“I’m personally very excited to be announcing that we’re expanding into (the) general population,” Reimer said.
Appointments are being booked for as early as next week and can be made by calling 1-844-626-8222 (1-844-MAN-VACC).
Reimer said the province has bolstered staffing at the appointment-booking call centre and expanded capacity to 2,000 lines in preparation for an expected flood of calls to make appointments. She stressed only those currently eligible to receive shots or their caregivers should call.
The government is also planning to have a way to make appointments online in the near future.
“We’re asking Manitobans to have patience,” Reimer said. “If the wait time does go up and you’re struggling to get through (to book appointments) please try again.
“We’re certainly optimistic that that won’t happen, but if it does we just ask people to try again the next day so that they have the opportunity to book if they’re eligible.”
The different age category for First Nations is in recognition of the disproportionate toll COVID-19 is having in those communities.
First Nations make up roughly 10 per cent of Manitoba’s population but account for a much higher percentage of active cases and hospitalizations.
“First Nations people are experiencing more severe illness due to COVID-19 and at younger ages,” said Dr. Marcia Anderson, the public health lead on the Manitoba First Nation pandemic response co-ordination team.
Since the first COVID-19 shots were delivered in Manitoba in mid-December, the province’s initial vaccination efforts have focused on seniors living in congregate facilities such as personal care homes, as well as priority health-care workers and elderly First Nations residents.
The move to those 95 and over is the first step of the province’s second stage of the planned vaccine rollout, which will see shots given to all Manitobans aged 80 and over, residents of high and moderate-risk congregate living facilities, health-care workers in acute care facilities, paramedics and home-care workers.
Further phases of the vaccination plan will see increasingly younger Manitobans become eligible for the shots, with younger First Nations people able to access the vaccine sooner, both on and off-reserve.
The vaccination task force has said with a good supply of vaccine, everyone in Manitoba who wants a shot may be vaccinated by the end of August, while a “low-range scenario” would stretch the predicted completion of the fourth and final stage of vaccinations into November.
Manitoba health officials reported one COVID-19 death today and 45 new cases.
However, six cases have been removed due to data corrections, so the net additional count is 39.
Supersite opening in Selkirk
At a technical briefing updating media on the province’s vaccination efforts held earlier in the day Tuesday, health officials announced the location of Manitoba’s fourth site for large-scale vaccine distribution.
Health officials say a so-called supersite will open in early March at the former Selkirk General Hospital, located on Easton Drive.
There are similar sites already in Winnipeg, Brandon and Thompson.
The province plans to open another supersite in the Winkler/Morden area later in March, but the exact location has yet to be released.
“We have every intention of expanding to more supersites throughout the province as well as more pop-up … temporary sites that could go to a much larger number of communities,” Reimer said.
Data from the province provided Tuesday shows 1,653 shots were given at the Winnipeg site last week, while 623 doses were administered in Brandon, and 350 shots went into arms in Thompson.
Meanwhile, officials say focused immunization teams will visit 44 personal care homes to deliver roughly 1,800 second-doses to residents. They say all PCH residents in Manitoba will be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of the week.
The province says the teams will continue to conduct regular sweeps of PCHs to make sure vaccines are made available to new residents.
The mobile vaccination teams are also currently providing first-dose immunizations to residents of congregate living facilities in Winnipeg and Brandon. Next week, they will visit about 120 locations throughout the province, amounting to about 4,800 beds, officials say.
As of Wednesday morning, 66,372 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been delivered in Manitoba including 39,814 first doses and 26,558 second doses, according to provincial data, which shows another 48,006 vaccinations are planned over the next 28 days.
The province says it’s so far been delivered 102,360 doses of vaccine including 79,560 doses of Pfizer vaccine and 22,800 doses of the Moderna vaccine. Officials say another 6,100 doses of Moderna are expected by the end of the week.
–With files from The Canadian Press
Questions about COVID-19? Here are some things you need to know:
Symptoms can include fever, cough and difficulty breathing — very similar to a cold or flu. Some people can develop a more severe illness. People most at risk of this include older adults and people with severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease. If you develop symptoms, contact public health authorities.
To prevent the virus from spreading, experts recommend frequent handwashing and coughing into your sleeve. They also recommend minimizing contact with others, staying home as much as possible and maintaining a distance of two metres from other people if you go out. In situations where you can’t keep a safe distance from others, public health officials recommend the use of a non-medical face mask or covering to prevent spreading the respiratory droplets that can carry the virus. In some provinces and municipalities across the country, masks or face coverings are now mandatory in indoor public spaces.
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