A registered nurse prepares a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in Halifax on Monday, Jan. 11, 2021. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan-POOL)
WINNIPEG — The Manitoba government has signed an order to enlist the help of additional medical professionals capable of administering the COVID-19 vaccine.
Athletic therapists, chiropractors, dental hygienists, massage therapists, and optometrists will be able to administer doses to the public once the province receives adequate vaccine supply to utilize.
“The number of vaccine doses delivered to Manitoba by the federal government so far is only a tiny fraction of what we will need in the coming months to protect Manitobans,” said Health Minister Heather Stefanson.
“Today we are expanding the number of people permitted to administer vaccines, so that when those vaccines are delivered to our province, I have been assured that we will be ready to mobilize our plan to vaccinate up to 20,000 Manitobans a day.”
Stefanson says while additional immunizers aren’t needed at this time due to low vaccine supply, the plan is to quickly mobilize a broader workforce if needed in the future.
To date, 50,554 doses of vaccine have been administered in Manitoba, including 33,930 first doses and 16,624 second doses.
