Second COVID-19 vaccine dose appointments starting Friday

Health officials are sharing more information on how the second dose campaign will roll out.

Second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will be first administered to a group of people with specific health conditions, starting on Friday.

These conditions include:

• receiving hemodialysis OR peritoneal dialysis
• liver cirrhosis due to any cause OR portal hypertension
• severe heart failure 
• cancers including solid tumor and blood (leukemia/lymphoma) who will or are receiving chemotherapy, immunosuppressive therapy orimmune checkpoint inhibitors (e.g., nivolumab, pembrolizumab)
• receiving one or more of the following medications: B cell therapies (e.g., rituximab, ocrelizumab), cyclophosphamide, alemtuzumab, calcineurin inhibitors (cyclosporine, tacrolimus), chronic dose prednisone >=20mg/day, mycophenolate, and JAK inhibitors (e.g., tofacitinib)
• have received or are on the list to receive a solid organ transplant
• have received a stem cell transplant OR CAR-T therapy at least 3 months ago.
• Down syndrome
• Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
• individuals receiving home care ≥ 4 times/week OR receiving 24/7 Community Living Disability Services supports (or as per family physician determination of equivalent levels of family support).

For the rest of the population, eligibility will be based on when they got their first dose.

There will be a communication plan for the timeline-based second vaccine campaign that could include emails, phone calls or texts once the person is eligible for their vaccine.

The province says 70 per cent of all Manitobans 12-years-old and older will receive their second dose by July 29 at the earliest, or July 31 at the latest. Currently, the province is recommending waiting 12 weeks between doses.

Second dose appointment scheduling will mimic first dose scheduling.

First Nation communities are set to complete their second-dose campaign by the end of May.

Youth vaccines

The province says 111,0000 Manitobans, those aged 12 to 17, recently were included in the vaccine eligibility. The province says those aged 16 and 17 can sign their own consent forms. Those 12-15 years old will need either a signed consent form from a guardian or parent, or attend the clinic with their caregiver. If those 15 and younger do not have either, they will be asked to go through an informed consent process to determine if they are able to consent for themselves. 

Johanu Botha, co-lead of the vaccination task force, says while there is the possibility of some students being vaccinated in schools, but he says this is rare. He is pointing parents to supersites and vaccine clinics for their vaccinations.