Manitoba to get 137,000 vaccine doses in next three weeks By: Danielle Da Silva Posted: 12:17 PM CST Wednesday, Mar. 10, 2021 Last Modified: 4:38 PM CST Wednesday, Mar. 10, 2021 Updates

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More than 137,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses will be delivered to Manitoba over the next three weeks and the province has pledged to administer them without delay as the immunization campaign swings into full gear.

Now that the vaccine supply from the federal government has stabilized and doses no longer have to be set aside for second shots, the province will begin emptying out its vaccine freezers, said Johanu Botha, co-lead for the province’s COVID-19 vaccine task force.

“We’ll be pushing close to zero at the end of each week in terms of what remains at each site, keeping a minimal viable inventory only to ensure all appointments can be maintained until the next shipment comes in,” Botha said.

However, the push to drive down inventory won’t begin in earnest until late next week, when provincial officials say 7,500 doses will remain in freezers.

Botha said the province will receive double the expected number of doses before the end of March, based on new vaccine delivery schedules issued by the federal government.

“We’re projecting approximately 4,300 doses a day, on average, through super-site, pop-up (clinics), and focused immunization teams over the next 28 days,” Botha said. “That will yield approximately 120,000 (doses) through that time period.”

However, Botha pointed out that not all of the vaccines being shipped to Manitoba will be given out at super-sites, pop-up clinics or through focused immunization teams.

A portion of the shipments will be directed to First Nations’ partners who are in the midst of planning to ship vaccines to 63 reserves, beginning with those that are at risk of flooding or wildfires, to immunize entire communities. Members of other eligible communities may be transported to Thompson to receive their shots at the ‘Vaxport’ airport hangar.

To keep up with supply, the maximum number of doses given daily in Winnipeg at the RBC Convention Centre super-site has increased to 4,154 with the opening of a second clinic on the third floor of the facility.

On Wednesday, the province said just 1,695 doses would be given daily at the RBC Convention Centre this week.

The provincial government has promised to be able to deliver 20,000 doses daily beginning April 1, so long as it has vaccine supply. On Wednesday, the province claimed it could provide 18,973 daily doses — if it had the vaccine supply.

However, more than one-quarter of that capacity depends on doctors and pharmacies, who are expected to provide up to 5,000 doses a day. That will only be possible if enough fridge-stable vaccines — AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson — arrive in Manitoba by that date.

Also on Wednesday, Botha said 190 clinics and pharmacies would receive a small shipment (between 50 and 200 doses) of the AstraZeneca vaccine to offer to eligible clients.

Of the 190 clinics and pharmacists set to receive the fridge-stable vaccine, 118 are in Winnipeg, 29 in Southern Health, 17 in Prairie Mountain, four in the north, and 22 in Interlake-Eastern. Shots have been distributed primarily based on population, Botha said.

Each clinic and pharmacist will book vaccine appointments directly with clients. The province has also published a map of all the pharmacies and clinics offering COVID-19 vaccines.

Botha said the map is colour-coded, and clinics and pharmacies that can accept appointments will be green while others that do not have appointments available will be red.

Pop-up immunization clinic details

“The last thing we want is to overwhelm one of our physician or pharmacy partners where they don’t have any vaccine left or they have allocated their vaccine to patients,” Botha said.

Based on delivery projections from the federal government, Botha said the full capacity of clinicians and pharmacists may not be tapped until later in the spring. However, the province could potentially receive enough supply to give up to 10,000 doses a day through clinics and pharmacists.

To push the provincial capacity toward the 20,000 goalpost, the province will open a mass vaccination clinic in Morden, at the Access Event Centre, on March 22. Three other mass vaccine clinics are currently taking appointments, including in Thompson (670 daily max capacity), Selkirk (1,005) and Brandon (1,407).

But for rural and northern Manitobans who do not have a super-site clinic nearby, the province is offering temporary, full- and half-day vaccination clinics in 18 communities in the final two weeks of March, with the capacity to give out 350 doses per week in each health region.

Botha said the amount of time a pop-up clinic can remain in a community will be based on staff availability.

“Ultimately, if we run a clinic for three days or one day in one area, those are days that the other town may not get a pop-up (clinic), especially in the early days.” – Johanu Botha, co-lead for the province’s COVID-19 vaccine task force

“Just like the vaccine isn’t limitless, staff also isn’t limitless,” Botha said. “Ultimately, if we run a clinic for three days or one day in one area, those are days that the other town may not get a pop-up (clinic), especially in the early days.”

Appointments at pop-up clinics will be available through the Manitoba vaccination hotline, beginning on Thursday.

Based on updated delivery forecasts from the federal government, Botha said the timeline to give all eligible Manitobans a first dose of the vaccine (with 70 per cent uptake) has moved into mid-June, under a low-supply scenario.

With a high supply of vaccines, that target is set for mid-May, with a goal of completion by May 21.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca

Danielle Da Silva
Reporter

Danielle Da Silva is a general assignment reporter.

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