Province prepares for AstraZeneca vaccine

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This article was published 25/02/2021 (1167 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba said it will be ready to dramatically ramp up COVID-19 immunizations, with an online booking system and pharmacy appointments, as it prepares for the arrival of the newly approved AstraZeneca vaccine.

“Everyone on the team right now is feeling anxious to get going,” said Dr. Joss Reimer, the medical lead for Manitoba’s vaccine rollout, on Friday.

“As soon as we have those doses, we want to roll them out as quickly as possible.”

Earlier, Health Canada announced it had approved the AstraZeneca vaccine, including the version manufactured in India, both of which are much easier to store than the Pfizer and Moderna doses.

Ottawa’s independent advisory body should soon provide medical guidance on whom provinces should inoculate with the AstraZeneca vaccine, and when to administer second doses. That will include whether to give AstraZeneca doses to people aged 65 and older, who were studied less than other age groups in official trials, but have been immunized in several countries, including the U.K.

The vials should arrive within weeks, and Reimer said there are 250 clinics and pharmacies on the list to administer shots.

“When we have those doses here in Manitoba, we’re going to ship it to those facilities as quickly as possible,” she said.

Doctors Manitoba confirmed its physicians are waiting for the doses to arrive, and encouraged people with questions about the vaccines to contact their family doctor.

“We care about the health and well-being of Manitobans, and we want to support everyone on their personal vaccine journey,” wrote spokesman Keir Johnson.

Reimer also said the online booking system already exists, but is being limited to a small pool of people who are currently eligible for a vaccine, so the province can work out any bugs before thousands of people log on.

She anticipated an update on the booking system next week.

Reimer also said the province is trying to figure out how to get doses to people who are infirm.

This week, the Free Press wrote about a 95-year-old Winnipeg man who will need to use a stretcher service to get his vaccinations at the downtown super site.

Taxpayers will likely cover the $1,000 cost for the two return trips, through Veterans Affairs Canada, but the family would prefer everyone have access to transportation or have a nurse visit peoples’ homes.

Reimer said Friday the province is looking at transportation options that community organizations could provide, and she noted home visits might be possible with either the AstraZeneca vaccine, or the anticipated changes to storage requirements for Pfizer and Moderna doses.

Also Friday, the province expanded its eligibility criteria to people born on or before Dec. 31, 1928, as well as First Nations people born on or before Dec. 31, 1948.

The Manitoba government also announced its new southern super site will be located at the Access Event Centre in Morden, and should open during the week of March 12, “subject to vaccine availability.”

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca