Outreach vans, home visits to deliver COVID-19 vaccines as Manitoba tries to get shots to more people

Mobile outreach vans, house calls and community-hosted clinics are being launchedas Manitoba moves to bring COVID-19 vaccines closer to certain people and expands eligibility for second doses again.

Anyone who received a first dose of a vaccine on or before April 20 is now eligible fora second shot.All Indigenous people in Manitoba and those with specific health conditions are alsoeligible to book a second dose,as long as they meet the minimum time interval between doses.

For those who still need first doses, the province isshifting to more of a seasonal flu-clinic approach. The aim is to reach those for whom travel to vaccine supersiteshas been abarrier to immunization.

"First doses remain critical to reopening plans in Manitoba, so now is the time for us to take more steps to make it even easier for people to get their first dose," saidDr. Joss Reimer, medical lead of the province's vaccine implementation task force.

A total of 874,564 vaccinations have been administered in Manitoba as of Wednesday, according to provincial data, which means about66per cent of Manitobans age 18 and up have hada first dose. The rate is nearly 63 per cent for those 12 and up.

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Dr. Joss Reimer, medical lead of Manitoba's vaccine task force, said Wednesday the province has had encouraging conversations with leaders in communities with lower vaccine uptake so far. She said it's important for community members with questions to be able to get answers and hear from people they trust.

Another 119,557 doses will be administered in the next 10 days, saidJohanu Botha, operations lead for the task force, during a separate briefing Wednesday morning.

He and other health officials said mobile clinics will startthis week in the inner city, focusing on homeless people, while community-hosted clinics willaim to reach ethnic groups who might have been deterred from visiting large supersites due to language issues.

Recently, the provinceconducted a small pilot project to have a handful of medical clinics and pharmacies offer mRNA vaccines, Reimer said, calling it a success.

As a result, that is being expanded. A total of 5,000 mRNA vaccine doses Pfizer-BioNTech andModerna are being delivered this week to about 25 partners to be used for first or second doses.

The province will also lean more on independent partners likehospitals,personal care homes,correctional facilities and home care toorder and administer vaccine based on needs.

More details on that process are yet to come but it would likely include home visits, officials said during the morning briefing.

More than 500 sites will be involved, Reimer said.The exact locations and amounts of vaccines may vary initially but will be increased over time, she said.

People can visit the province's vaccine finder website to find out where to make appointments.

As well,pop-up clinics will continue and be expandedto new locations, officials said.

Community clinics

Examples ofa community host could be alarge employerwith lower numbers of vaccinated staff orschools in neighbourhoods with low vaccination rates, health officials said at the morning briefing.

The hope is that a trusted local host, rather than a government site, can increase uptake.

The community organization or business will do the outreach andhost while a clinical team will providethe shots.

The plan will borrow from experiences at recent Indigenous-led clinics and the Knox United Church pop-up in Winnipeg, Botha said.

However, he acknowledged that hesitance, rather than accessibility, is an issue in some places, such as the health district around Morden and Winkler.

The health districtof Stanley has a vaccination rate of13 per cent for those 18 and up, according to provincial data.

The province is relying onlocal leaders pastors and politicians to help persuade people to get their first dose.

"Our main goal remains to get as many Manitobans protected with that first dose as possible," Reimer said.

Those first doses are particularly important "in communities where there isn't a lot of uptake yetso we don't have pools of people where the virus can continue to transmit," she said.

Manitoba is still targetingJune 30 to get a first dose toeveryone age12 and upwho wants to be vaccinated. That's about 32,000 more doses, Botha said.

Anyone who received AstraZeneca-Oxford as afirst dose can get a second dose of the approvedmRNA vaccines oncethey are eligible.

Most people who got the AstraZenecavaccine as their first dose should wait eight weeks before getting a second shot, although certain people in higher-risk groups can get it after 28 days.

The province is also now allowingpeople who received Modernaor Pfizer as a first shotto get either one for thesecond dose; theydonot need to be the same.

Those who received Pfizer can get a second shot three weeks (21 days) after the first. Those whose first dose was Modernashould wait fourweeks (28 days).

Botha said 1,872 doses of AstraZeneca remain in the province and at this time, Manitoba is not taking any more shipments of AstraZeneca, nor shipments of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Officials believethe mRNAvaccines Moderna and Pfizer are superior, and despite a short-term delay in receiving moreModernasupply, the province will have enough for all second doses, he said.

The remainingAstraZeneca supply is being reserved for those who, for some reason, cannot get an mRNAvaccine, Reimer said.

She reiterated her message that those who got AstraZeneca as a first dose did the right thing, becauseit is far better than not being immunized earlier.

Botha also noted that, despite an interruption on Monday that led to a number of vaccine appointments at the RBC Convention Centre supersite in Winnipeg being cancelled, no vaccine doses were wasted.

A gas leak was reported around 2 p.m. that day, leading to a two-hour delay. Many people had to be rescheduled but appointments are back on track, officials said.

WATCH | Full news conference on COVID-19 | June 2, 2021:

Manitoba government daily briefing on coronavirus: June 2

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Provincial officials give update on COVID-19 outbreak: Wednesday, June 2, 2021.