Manitoba plans to start vaccinating people age 95 and older next week

Manitoba's eldest residents can expect to start receivingCOVID-19 vaccines, and two new large vaccination centres are preparing to open, as provincial health officialsramp up immunizations after weeks of uncertain supplies.

People age 95 and older will be eligible forCOVID-19 vaccination starting next week, the province's vaccine task force announced Wednesday.

"I know that this is something that many Manitobans are looking forward to for themselves and for their loved ones, and so I am looking forward to being able to announce next week that we will be opening up to elderly Manitobans," said Dr. JossReimer,medical lead for the task force.

Reimer cautioned that people in the 95 and up age groupcan't yet book an appointment. That will happen next week,she said.

"Wedon't normally announce ahead of time that people will become eligible, in part because we don't want people to start calling the call centre before they're eligible," Reimer said.

She acknowledged,however, that many older Manitobanslikely won't check the province's website or see the online briefing, and they wanted to give families, community groups and facility operators timeto work out the best way to book appointments and make arrangements to get eligible people to the sites.

Up to this point, only seniorsliving in congregate facilities such as personal care homes have beeneligible to receive the vaccine.

There are roughly5,000 people in the 95-plus age group in Manitoba, health officials have previously said.

Selkirk, Morden-Winkler getting supersites

The province's vaccine implementation task force also announced Wednesday that the next COVID-19 vaccine supersites in Manitoba are planned to open in Selkirk and the Morden-Winklerarea in the first week of March.

The two new sites which will serve the Interlake-Easternand Southern health regions will mean that every health region will have a supersite. The exact location of two supersites remains to be determined.

Supersite locations were selected based on criteria such as population densityin order to maximize the number of people who canreasonably get to a site.

Supersites must also act as distributionhubs for pop-up clinics and focused immunizationteamsinthe region, so transportationroutes play a key role in determining where to put them, saidJohanu Botha, the task force's operations lead.

"This is a first foray of supersites," he said."We're very aware that thereare residents acrossManitoba that [are] not as close to these supersitesthat willneedconvenient access to vaccines. They will have that."

Manitoba plans to eventually have13 supersites across the province.

Supersites shut down amid shortages

Throughout March, the province expects to receive significantly more does about 15,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccineeach week than it received in February. The province's projections only extend until March 29.

Theprovince also expects to receive more than 20,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine by the first week of March, but no Moderna shipments are confirmed beyond that point.

"It certainly seems that we've passed this hump and that the supply should be increasing as we go forward," Reimer said. "But we also need to plan for what we know willhappen again at some point there will be another disruption."

WATCH | Dr. Joss Reimer says vaccine supply has 'passed this hump,' but must prepare for more disruptions down the line:

Dr. Joss Reimer says vaccine supply has 'passed this hump,' but must prepare for more disruptions down the line

4 years ago

Duration 0:57

Dr. Joss Reimer, medical lead for Manitoba's vaccine task force, said Wednesday she's optimistic about vaccine supply increases and stability, but the province must be ready for further disruptions in the future.

The province announced on Tuesday just one of its vaccination supersites the one in downtown Thompson remains open at this time due to vaccine shortages.

The Vaxport site, located in a hangar near the northern Manitoba city's airport, has been ready to open since February but will not begin providing immunizations until vaccine supply issues are resolved.

The supersitesin Winnipeg and Brandon remainclosed until Thursday.

People who had appointments scheduled while the clinics are closed have been contacted to reschedule their appointments, which will still be within the recommended window, the province said.

Only 6,100 doses of the Moderna vaccine the type remote and northern sites use because it's easier to ship and store than the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccineare expected next week.

Meanwhile, 15,210 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTechvaccine are expected this week and 17,550 doses next week.

Next congregate facilities announced

The province also released alist ofcongregate living facilitieswhere itplans to vaccinate residents on a priority basis.

Beginning Friday, mobile teams in Brandon and Winnipeg will visit high-priority settings, such as hospitals,supportive housing and assisted living sites. Along with the list, the province released a schedule of the high-prioritysites teams will visit from Friday to Feb. 26.

The sites in the Winnipeg Health Region are:

• Feb. 19: Lions Supportive Housing.
• Feb. 22: Residence Despins supportive housing.
• Feb. 23: Victoria General Hospital.
• Feb. 24: Arlington Haus.
• Feb. 25: Grace Hospital and Assiniboine Links.
• Feb. 26: Dakota House Homestead, Devonshire House I Homestead and Devonshire House II Homestead.

In the Prairie Mountain Health region, they are:

• Feb. 19: Brandon Regional Health Centre.
• Feb. 22: Victoria Landing Retirement Residence, Sokol Supportive Housing, Sokol Manor, Rotary Villas at Crocus Gardens, Riverheights Terrace.
• Feb. 23: Hobbs Manor, Village Green, Winnipeg House and Kin Village.
• Feb. 25: McDiarmid Place, Parkview Seniors Co-op, Western Manitoba Seniors Non-profit Housing, Grand Valley Place, Lawson Lodge, Princess Park and Princess Tower.
• Feb. 26: Lions Manor, Odd Fellows Corner, The Towers and Kiwanis Courts.

There are more than 1,400 congregate living settings in Manitoba, with nearly 22,800 residents.

WATCH | Full news conference on COVID-19 | Feb. 17, 2021:

Manitoba government daily briefing on coronavirus: Feb. 17

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Duration 44:58

Provincial officials give update on COVID-19 outbreak: Wednesday, February 17, 2021.