Province launches online booking site for vaccinations

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This article was published 17/03/2021 (1671 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitobans in their golden years eager to be vaccinated against COVID-19 will soon have their chance, the doctor in charge of the province’s vaccine roll out said Wednesday, with appointments set to open to people 65-plus next week.

Dr. Joss Reimer, medical lead for the province’s COVID-19 vaccine task force, announced expanded COVID-19 vaccine eligibility on Wednesday to include people who are 73 or older, and First Nations people 53 or older.

“We’ve been really fortunate to be able to keep dropping the age. I personally find it very exciting to see the number change. I anticipate that probably early next week we’ll be talking about people who are 65-plus,” she said.

The province will stick to its current eligibility criteria for the AstraZeneca/Covishield vaccine that prioritizes people 50 to 64 years old with certain medical conditions, despite the National Advisory Committee on Immunization on Tuesday recommending that the vaccine should be used in all adults, Reimer said.

A total of 18,000 doses have already been distributed to doctors and pharmacists throughout Manitoba, and many have already scheduled appointments, Reimer said.

At this time, the province does not know when it will receive its next shipment of AstraZeneca vaccine, which is fridge stable and can be offered at community clinics and pharmacies, she added.

“We’re expecting by next week that everybody regardless of health conditions, over the age of 65, will be eligible through a pop-up site or a supersite, so that odd discrepancy of the two age eligibilities will disappear very quickly,” she said.

Moving forward, the AstraZeneca vaccine may be used to target specific populations, Reimer said.

“We are absolutely open to shifting to other eligible groups as we get more doses of AstraZeneca. I know there are individuals who are homebound for example and AstraZeneca is easier to transport… so it could be a very good option for those folks going forward,” Reimer said.

“When we find out from the federal government when the next shipment is coming we can start to make some decisions,” she said.

As of Wednesday, Manitobans can book a COVID-19 vaccine appointment online.

Johanu Botha, co-lead for the province’s vaccine task force overseeing operations and logistics, said the online appointment portal has completed its testing phase and is ready for the public.

“It will cover most scheduling needs in this phase, but not all. So it is for supersites only at this time,” Botha said.

The online booking portal will be available through the province’s website. Appointment bookings are also available by calling the vaccination hotline at 1-844-626-8222.

At present, appointments are being booked two to three weeks into the future.

During a briefing with reporters Wednesday morning, Botha defended the pace of the vaccine rollout. The latest data from the province indicates 69.4 per cent of received doses have been given to Manitobans.

“We’re not sitting on doses. It’s just the speed (that) is what varies,” he said. “Our goal is to get as many doses into arms as quickly, but as safely as possible in a way that supports access to the vaccine.

“Pop-ups and the focused immunization teams are, by definition, narrower pipes through which we can pump vaccine out of, but slower,” he said. “But the major benefit is it… makes our system more convenient for those who cannot access a supersite.”

He also noted a significant portion — 13,500 doses — of the Moderna vaccine shipment the province received last Friday has been passed on to First Nations partners for immunizations on reserves.

Data on First Nations immunizations is updated on Fridays, and provincial data on doses administered does not include shots given to First Nations individuals.

The province said its share of the Moderna shipment — 7,000 doses — will be used in congregate-living facilities and at pop-up clinics in rural and remote communities by March 31.

The approximately 20,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in the system on Wednesday would be used up by March 23, Botha noted.

Meanwhile, about 1,500 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine had been given to Manitobans through pharmacists and medical clinics so far (or about 700 doses a day). At that rate, it could take up to 24 days to use the complete AstraZeneca supply.

“We’re in a pilot phase…. This is the first time that these clinics are doing it in this way,” Botha said. “That 24 days in total from launch would still put us within the expiry date of those (vaccines).”

Provincial officials also noted the number of doses given daily by pharmacists and physicians is expected to increase as some locations had only received their shipment earlier this week.

Botha said a new mass-vaccination clinic planned for Morden at the Access Event Centre is on schedule to deliver its first doses on Monday.

The clinic expansion at the RBC Convention Centre in Winnipeg will likely open next week.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca