Manitoba will offer a third dose of COVID 19 vaccine to more people in the province

The Manitoba government is allowing more people to get a third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

The province is suggesting a third dose for all health-care workers who have direct contact with patients in areas including hospitals, care homes, pharmacies and addictions treatment centres.

It is also allowing anyone who has received only the viral-vector vaccines, such as Oxford-AstraZeneca, to get a third dose with an mRNA vaccine such as Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech.

Dr. Joss Reimer, medical lead of Manitoba’s vaccination effort, outlined the changes in a memo to medical professionals and said the third dose should be given at least six months after the second.

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She says the changes are based on data from clinical trials and observational studies.

At a press conference Wednesday Reimer said third doses should only be given out six months after the participants’ second immunization and the extra shots for health care workers will be on a voluntary basis.

She said Astrazeneca shots show a very strong immune response, especially when taken further apart — but their immunity wanes faster than mRNA shots.

Roughly 6,800 Manitobans who have two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine will be eligible for the booster shots, Reimer said.

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COVID-19 vaccines are widely available in Manitoba, and Doctors Manitoba has a website that allows people to search for a physician in their area with doses on hand.

“Emerging evidence suggests that immunity to a complete series of COVID-19 vaccination wanes over time, at least with respect to symptomatic infection,” Reimer wrote in the memo Tuesday.

“Effectiveness for healthy individuals remains high against severe outcomes — e.g. hospitalization and death.”

Manitoba has already offered third doses to people who are immunocompromised, who live or work in First Nations personal care homes, and people who received a vaccine and are travelling to countries that don’t recognize it.

–With files from Shane Gibson and Skylar Peters

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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