With a limited supply of the COVID-19 vaccine tentatively scheduled to arrive in Manitoba in the coming days, the province has started booking 900 appointments for its first immunization clinic. As of this morning, about half of those spots remain available for eligible health-care providers to book.
These first 900 appointments are only available for the first priority group of health-care workers who meet specific criteria, as recommended by Manitoba’s vaccine implementation task force. The first priority group to receive COVID-19 immunizations will be health-care workers whose work involves direct contact with patients and who meet one of these other criteria:
- work in critical care units, born on or before Dec. 31, 1970;
- work in acute care facilities, born on or before Dec. 31, 1960;
- work in long-term care facilities, born on or before Dec. 31, 1960; or
- be assigned to COVID-19 immunization clinics.
At this time, the province has shared a dedicated phone number to book appointments internally within the health-care system. The province is reminding Manitobans to call only for an appointment if you are an eligible front-line health-care provider.
Since opening yesterday, the booking service has received more than 100,000 phone calls and some callers were screened out as they did not meet eligibility criteria.
The province is asking for the co-operation of all Manitobans to review the eligibility criteria before calling to request an appointment as to not overwhelm booking systems and to reserve vaccination appointments for those who need it most.
The Manitoba government appreciates the patience and understanding of all Manitobans as it works to roll out the immunization program in an orderly and effective way as more vaccine becomes available. Manitobans will receive updates on the arrival of vaccine supply and future opportunities for immunization.
