A record 41,754 appointments were booked on Friday after age eligibility was lowered to 12 and older. The previous record was 26,000 on May 13. Parents are reminded to book the appointment under their child’s name, not their own name. If that parent had already received a first dose, the appointment would be cancelled as second-dose appointments are not currently being accepted.
Young people aged 12 and up are now eligible to book their first-dose appointments. To make the visit as easy as possible, young people aged 12 to 15 can either attend the appointment with a parent, guardian or caregiver, or bring a signed consent form at the time of their appointment.
According to statistics provided to The Reminder by the Northern Health Region (NHR) this week, more than half of all eligible people in the Flin Flon and The Pas health districts have had at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose.
The Pfizer vaccine was approved recently by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) to be used for people as young as 12. The Moderna vaccine, as of May 14, is approved for people age 18 and up, but not for anyone younger. The vaccine is approved for people who are 18 years of age and older. Its safety and effectiveness in people younger than 18 years of age have not yet been established, reads the PHAC s official guidance on the Moderna vaccines. Eligibility criteria for Moderna vaccines remains the same - all people age 18 and up in Manitoba can now book an appointment to get a Moderna dose.
Two new cases were reported in the Flin Flon/Snow Lake/Cranberry Portage/Sherridon district, which now sits at nine active cases. Since the pandemic began, 165 people in the Flin Flon district have tested positive for COVID-19. No new outbreaks or possible public exposures have been announced by provincial public health authorities in the NHR. There are, according to public health officials, 282 active cases of COVID-19 in northern Manitoba. While the picture is bright in the north, things are worsening in the south. Three more deaths from COVID-19 were announced by the province, each of which were tied to COVID-19 variants of concern. The three deaths push Manitoba to a total of 1,000 deaths due to COVID-19 during the pandemic.