Province expands eligibility for hepatitis A vaccine

Anyone aged six months or older who lives in or travels frequently to an Indigenous community is eligible for one free dose of a hepatitis A vaccine, amid the ongoing outbreak in Manitoba.

The province has also included those who have household visitors from an Indigenous community, it said in a news release Friday.

Children who meet one of the above criteria and were born on or after Jan. 1, 2010, continue to be eligible for a second dose.

As of July 16, there have been 898 cases of hepatitis A reported since September 2024, with 197 hospitalizations, eight intensive care unit admissions and seven deaths, the release said.

The outbreak, declared in April 2025, initially affected several communities in northern Manitoba and has evolved to include cases in communities across Manitoba, including Winnipeg, where it has spread among homeless people and those with connections to other outbreak communities.