Dr. Joss Reimer speaks with the media at a press conference. (Screenshot: Manitoba Government/YouTube)
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The last thing Joss Reimer wanted to be growing up in rural southern Manitoba was a physician, but today she leads the province as the doctor in charge of vaccinations.
Reimer grew up just over an hour south of Winnipeg, in Winkler, Man. The community holds the status of a city now, but at the time she says it was very much a small town. (It was) just a wonderful way to grow up, Reimer says. The freedom that you have as a child in a smaller place is really not comparable to the city. When I was growing up, right across the street it was just open wheat fields and so to be able to have the ability to just run around and play with your friends where you know you re safe and have that opportunity to experience the blend of nature and a town at the same time was wonderful and then this small community where people know each other.
WINNIPEG The Manitoba government will be opening appointments for the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to eligible Indigenous residents starting on May 24. Dr. Marcia Anderson, public health lead for the First Nations Pandemic Response Coordination Team, and Dr. Joss Reimer, medical lead for Manitoba’s Vaccine Implementation Task Force, made the announcement on Friday. The province said to book appointments, Indigenous Manitobans must have received a Pfizer vaccine 21 days before their second-dose appointment or the Moderna vaccine 28 days before their second-dose appointment. “Throughout the second and third waves of this pandemic we have consistently seen that First Nations people make up 40 to 60 per cent of all COVID admissions to the ICU,” Anderson said.
WINNIPEG Some Manitobans will become eligible on Friday to book their second dose appointment for the COVID-19 vaccine. According to the Manitoba government, only those with certain health conditions will be able to book their appointments later today. These conditions include severe heart failure, Down syndrome, and human immunodeficiency virus. A full list of the priority conditions can be found online. Earlier in the week, Johanu Botha, operations, logistics and planning lead for Manitoba’s Vaccine Implementation Task Force, said the appointments will likely open up around 11:45 a.m. Botha also announced that the province expects all Manitoba residents will have their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of July.
People who have been prescribed any one of a series of heavy-duty medications, including some used for chemotherapy (cyclophophamide), cancer care (alemtuzumab), anti-organ rejection (mycophenolate), immune system suppression (calcineurin inhibitors and/or chronic dose prednisone, over 20 milligrams a day), rheumatoid arthritis (Janus kinase inhibitors) and others, can also qualify for a second dose appointment. People who have received an organ transplant, who are waiting for an organ transplant, who are receiving stem cell transplants and who are receiving dialysis are also eligible for a second dose as of May 21. Dr. Joss Reimer, medical lead of Manitoba’s Vaccine Implementation Task Force, said priorities for second doses are aimed at people who already have health issues often made worse or made deadly when COVID-19 enters the fray.