The RBC Convention Centre super site opened in Winnipeg yesterday and immunized 850 people. Since the vaccine arrived in Manitoba in December, a total of 4,292 people have been immunized against COVID-19.
Thousands of appointments have been booked for Jan. 4 to 10 with second-dose appointments occurring Jan. 25 to 31. About 800 appointments remain available later this week. The phone line is open to eligible health-care workers from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily until all spaces are filled. Individuals should not call to make an appointment unless they meet the eligibility criteria.
The eligibility criteria for immunization are being expanded today. Individuals who are a health-care worker whose work involves direct contact with patients and who meet at least one of the following criteria continue to be eligible to make an appointment for immunization:
• work in critical care units (no age restrictions);
• work in long-term care facilities, born on or before Dec. 31, 1975;
• work in acute care facilities, born on or before Dec. 31, 1975;
• assigned to a COVID-19 immunization clinic or designated COVID-19 testing site (no age restrictions);
• work in a laboratory handling COVID-19 specimens (new, no age restrictions);
• work on a designated COVID-19 hospital ward (new, no age restrictions); and
• work in provincial or federal correctional facilities (new, no age restrictions).
People with appointments are reminded to enter through the main doors on York Avenue at the RBC Convention Centre. Indoor parking will be free for clients who present their parking ticket for validation when they check in for their appointment. To limit crowding and keep an even flow of immunizations, people are asked not to show up any more than 15 minutes before their appointment time.
The super site currently has about 10,800 doses of the Pfizer vaccine. Manitoba has also received its first shipment of 7,300 doses of the Moderna vaccine. The majority of the doses will be used to address immediate First Nation priorities, and the remaining 2,000 doses will be used to launch the immunization campaign at personal care homes next week.
Manitoba will soon launch an online dashboard to provide statistics about the immunization program. More information about the vaccine campaign in Manitoba, including all available jobs to support immunization clinics, is available at www.manitoba.ca/vaccine.
