Vaccination super site opens for health-care workers at convention centre

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This article was published 04/01/2021 (1753 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg’s COVID-19 immunization super site opened Monday morning at the RBC Convention Centre with thousands of health-care workers scheduled to receive their first doses of the vaccine this week.

More than 4,100 first-dose appointments have been scheduled between Jan. 4 and 10 and roughly 2,000 remain available, according to the latest provincial COVID-19 bulletin. An update on the number of remaining available appointments is expected Monday.

A total of 871 people with vaccinations booked for Monday were sent the incorrect location for their appointments during the weekend, a provincial spokesperson told the Free Press, but the correct information was later sent out.

At 8:30 a.m., people could be seen arriving for their appointments, walking in through the front doors of the convention centre, where staff waited to greet and direct them. There was a winding, socially distanced lineup and signs asking people not to take photos or videos.

Andrea Giesbrecht, a health-care worker in a pediatric intensive care unit who had a vaccine appointment Monday, said on her way inside the convention centre that it felt good to know she’d soon receive her first dose.

“I’m excited about the potential for everyone to get it. It will be a little more exciting when it’s available to more people. But I do feel very blessed that I have the opportunity to do this. I just wish there were other people who could get it ahead of me,” Giesbrecht said.

She said the fact Manitobans are starting to get vaccinated against the virus brings some hope, but isn’t sure we can see the light at the end of the tunnel just yet.

“I think there’s an increase in hope for that, but it’s hard to say… I’ve educated myself a bit about the vaccine, but not enough to know how long it will take to be effective, how often are we going to have to get this vaccine, who is going to be complying with actually getting it,” she said.

“There are a lot of different factors that will play into the light at the end of the tunnel, but I think there is definitely hope.”

Fiona, a health-care aide who did not want her last name published, said she was scheduled for her first dose Monday and the second one several weeks from now.

“I feel kind of relieved. I work in a COVID unit, so I’m working with different kinds of COVID patients every day. Even though we take precautions and do proper hand sanitization, it’s kind of a relief there’s a vaccine,” she said.

At 9 a.m., an anti-vaccine protester holding two signs arrived at the convention centre wearing a Halloween mask to conceal his identity. One of the signs warned of “killer drugs” and the other of “big pharma.”

The protester walked to the windows of the convention centre, near where people were lined up inside waiting to get vaccinated, and pressed the signs up against the glass. Soon after, a staff member stepped outside and asked the man to remain on the sidewalk.

The province plans to administer 40,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in January. Anyone who meets the vaccination criteria can book an appointment from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily until the spaces are filled.

To be eligible, medical professionals must work directly with patients and meet one of the following criteria: work in a critical-care unit; work in a long-term care facility and be age 45 and older; work in an acute-care facility and be age 45 and older; or work at a COVID-19 immunization clinic or testing site.

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rk_thorpe