Manitoba opens COVID-19 vaccine cards to those without health cards

The Manitoba government says COVID-19 vaccination cards and QR digital bar codes are now available to people even if they don’t have a provincial health card.

Individuals will have to have had two doses — in any combination — of the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna or Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines or a single dose of Johnson & Johnson.

Their last shot will have to have been at least two weeks before the request.

Manitobans vaccinated outside the province will need to provide proof to public health and the data must be recorded.

3:06 What the Manitoba vaccination card means for fully vaccinated residents

Those looking for a vaccine card can call 1-844-626-8222.

A public health order starting Friday will require people to be double vaccinated to attend sporting events and concerts, indoor theatre and dance performances, restaurants, nightclubs, movie theatres and casinos.

Public health officials say vaccine appointments have increased since the measure was announced last week, and, according to a provincial website tracking vaccinations, there were 6,391 doses scheduled Monday.

The site shows 82 per cent of eligible Manitobans have received at least one shot and 76.7 per cent have received two doses.

0:33 Manitoba opens COVID-19 vaccine cards to those without health cards

34 new cases Monday

Health officials reported 34 new cases of COVID-19 in Manitoba on Monday and say 25 of those are in individuals not fully vaccinated.

There have been no deaths linked to COVID-19 reported in Manitoba since last week.

Data from the weekend released Monday shows 102 new cases were recorded Saturday and 46 cases were identified Sunday.

The majority of Monday’s new infections come from the Winnipeg Health region, where 12 of the 16 cases were among the unvaccinated.

Eight of the nine cases reported Monday in the Southern Health region were also unvaccinated, health officials said. Another five cases were reported from the Northern Health region, three come from the Prairie Mountain Health region, and one was reported in the Interlake-Eastern Health region.

There are 503 active cases across the province with 65 people hospitalized including 18 who are in ICU, according to provincial health data.

The five-day test positivity rate is three per cent provincially and 1.6 per cent in Winnipeg.

Since March 2020 Manitoba has reported 58,681 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 1,189 deaths connected to the virus.

–With files from Shane Gibson

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.

For full COVID-19 coverage from Global News, visit our coronavirus page.