WINNIPEG - A doctor who works in internal medicine became the first person in Manitoba to get the COVID-19 vaccine on the same day the province reported 15 more deaths from the novel coronavirus. We are extremely lucky that we live in Canada, in Manitoba, and that people made huge efforts to get us this vaccine, Dr. Brian Penner said Wednesday after being inoculated about 8:30 a.m.
Penner, who works at Winnipeg s Health Sciences Centre, said he felt extremely fortunate to get the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, because it will help keep his patients safe. He said he was feeling well after getting the shot.
The province announced 47 new cases of COVID-19 in the Northern Regional Health Authority (NRHA) Dec. 16 but health district numbers on the provincial government’s COVID-19 web page showed only 33 new cases, with another 23 cases removed from previous totals. The total number of COVID-19 cases in the north only went up by 10 from yesterday, data on the web page shows. Most of the new northern cases were from the Island Lake health district, which had 20 more cases than on Tuedsay, while there were seven new cases in the Thompson/Mystery Lake health district and five in the Shamattawa/Yokrk Factory/Tataskweyak/Split Lake health district.
WINNIPEG As the first COVID-19 vaccines arrive in Manitoba on Tuesday, the province says it is ready to begin immunizing people on Wednesday. Speaking to media Tuesday afternoon, Premier Brian Pallister said the province will begin its first immunizations on Wednesday to approximately 900 health-care workers. “As we round out 2020, and look ahead to a new year, there is hope in the window for a safe and healthier future,” Pallister said. The vaccines arrived by air Tuesday morning. The first immunizations will be administered at the University of Manitoba’s Rady Faculty of Health Sciences on Bannatyne campus, located next to the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg. The vaccines are stored there at an ultra-low temperature, and cannot be moved after delivery.