More communities for vaccine rollout identified

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This article was published 27/04/2021 (2020 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Vaccine eligibility expanded to anyone 18 years of age and older in the Northern Health Region, while community eligibility was expanded to the Seven Oaks West neighbourhood in Winnipeg, the province released on Monday.

More than 30,000 people are now eligible to receive their vaccinations in the 18-to-49 age group, Dr. Joss Reimer, medical lead of the Vaccine Implementation Task Force, said in a technical briefing on Monday.

“The rationale for the North is really no different than any other priority community that we’ve identified in this process, with the additional challenge of remote geography and access to health care,” Reimer said.

Flin Flon and The Pas can expect additional pop-up clinics to support the Northern Health region’s vaccine effort, she said.

In the Seven Oaks West neighbourhood, people who live there and are 18 and older, as well as adults working in the following roles will be eligible for the vaccine. They are:

• kindergarten to Grade 12 schools

• child-care provider

• food processing facilities

• grocery stores or convenience stores

• gas stations

• public health inspector or workplace safety and health officer

• anywhere that serves food (restaurants or food banks).

“The vaccine is one way we can slow the spread of this virus and control the third wave of COVID-19,” Reimer said.

She said younger people are experiencing more severe outcomes from COVID-19, and it was important to adjust their eligibility criteria.

The increase in higher case counts compared to other communities in the second round is what determined Seven Oaks West’s vaccine expansion.

“We’re seeing that again now, with higher rates in the third wave,” Reimer said.

“Additionally in Seven Oaks West, we’ve seen that there is a higher proportion of BIPOC communities (Black, Indigenous, people of colour) compared to many other parts of the province, as well as we looked at issues around housing and income, and all of those together helped us identify Seven Oaks West as a high-risk community that we wanted to immunize as quickly as we could.”

Additional prioritized communities will likely be announced later on this week, she said.

The current vaccine eligibility includes people over 50 and First Nations people over 30.

While the current age of eligibility for the AstraZeneca vaccine is 40 and older, that could potentially change as the province considers recommendations from the National Advisory Committee to consider people 30 years of age and older based on federal government guidelines. However, supply is an issue and the federal government has not told the province when it will be receiving more, Reimer said.

“Even if we met the criteria that they’ve set out for going down to age 30, we don’t have the doses available to offer to those folks,” Reimer said.

To date, Manitoba has administered 413,607 first and second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, representing 31.4 per cent of all adults in the province over 18.

More than one-third of Manitobans have been immunized.

Appointments can be made for the vaccine by calling 1-844-626-8222 or by visiting protectmb.ca.

» kkielley@brandonsun.com