School staff, first responders among those eligible under Manitoba’s expanded vaccination rules
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Manitobans working in certain front-line, public-facing roles in communities experiencing higher risks of COVID-19 will be eligible to receive vaccine beginning Friday in a small number of locations.
The geographical locations are still being determined by the province, vaccine implementation task force officials said Wednesday during a technical briefing with media, but the task force did announce while the list of workers would be given priority access to the vaccine.
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That list includes any workers at a school, child-care and daycare providers, in a food processing plant, including food inspectors, public health and workplace safety inspectors, grocery, convenience and gas station clerks, as well as anywhere that provides food, including restaurants, food banks and soup kitchens.
“For some of the professions, there was very clear data showing that they have experienced higher rates of transmission as well as severe health outcomes,” said Dr. Joss Reimer, medical lead of the vaccine task force. “And some are related more to the goal of preventing transmission in these settings. Jobs where we see a lot of interaction with the public… in order to reduce the height of wave three.”
Reimer said the single biggest factor in the geographical areas chosen will be the number of cases seen in the second and third waves. Other factors, including population density, percentage of racialized populations, income and suitable housing, are also being considered.
“I want to be clear: when we are talking about workers, we’re talking about the workers who are working in the specific priority geographies when those are announced,” Reimer said.
She added that the initial rollout will be small and then expanded as more doses become available. Other jobs are being considered and could be added as expansion happens.
The province also announced that firefighters, including volunteer firefighters, and police officers would be eligible for their jabs beginning on Wednesday.
Government expects 2,400 police and 4,700 firefighters to be eligible. Individuals in those roles could book appointments as of 11:45 a.m. on Wednesday.
The province bumped back its low-range projection on when they expect to have 70% of the adult population vaccinated due to supply shortages and delays when it comes to the Moderna vaccine.
The new date for that scenario is now June 9, pushed back from May 21. The high-range scenario, or best-case scenario for 70% uptake, is now slated for June 5.
The province will see an uptick in Pfizer doses coming into the province by the end of May, with weekly deliveries going up from 73,700 doses to 87,800 per week starting the week of May 31.
There is no line of sight on any other vaccines coming into the province, including the AstraZeneca jab, for which eligibility was lowered to anyone aged 40 and up earlier this week.
Johanu Botha, co-lead of the task force, said people needn’t worry about their second dose within four months of their first shot. He also said that while short-term projections show no new AZ doses coming — a byproduct of an export ban out of India where the vaccine is manufactured — more doses are expected.
“All the signals from the federal government have been very clear, that every one of these vaccines will see a stable and robust supply chain going forward,” Botha said.
Meanwhile, five new urban Indigenous clinics designed to provide a culturally safe space to address barriers people may face will open over the next few weeks.
Two of the clinics will open in Winnipeg and another in Brandon next week, while clinics slated for Portage la Prairie and Thompson will open in the first week of May.
While most appointments will be booked through regular channels, there will be openings for walk-ins, including for those experiencing homelessness. Eligibility for those experiencing homelessness is anyone aged 18 and up.
The province also stated that the new Winnipeg supersite at the Leila Soccer Complex will open May 7, and appointments for the site can be booked immediately.
“We hope this is another option that makes it easier for people to get their vaccine closer to home,” Botha said, adding the site is expected to be able to deliver thousands of jabs per day.
“The Leila supersite is expected to be able to deliver thousands of doses per day.”
Vaccine update
Eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine has been expanded to anyone 50 and up, and 30 and up in First Nations on Wednesday.
To date, 364,389 doses of vaccine have been administered including 293,995 first doses and 70,394 second doses.
The province doled out around 14,000 doses of vaccine on Tuesday.
A total of 521,910 doses of vaccine have been delivered to Manitoba. This includes:
• 319,410 doses of Pfizer vaccine
• 118,400 doses of the Moderna vaccine
• 84,100 doses of the AstraZeneca/Covishield vaccine
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Twitter: @scottbilleck
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