Dr. Joss Reimer, left, medical lead on Manitoba’s vaccine committee, injects Mabel Aldwinckle with her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at Meadowood Manor in Winnipeg on Jan. 29, 2021. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods)
WINNIPEG — Manitoba is testing out a more efficient way to vaccinate people against COVID-19 at two of its supersite locations.
Beginning next week, people who are booked for inoculation in Winnipeg or Morden will enter the site, register and be escorted to a station, where a staff member will come to them to review their consent form. Some staff will be assigned to reconstitute and fill the needles with the vaccine to accelerate the process, while other staff members will focus on checking and updating immunization records.
Currently, the immunizer is responsible for reconstituting the vaccine and drawing it into the needle, delivering the vaccine and checking and updating a client’s immunization records. This present process allows immunizers to only provide six to eight immunizations per hour. The process is also expected to save people approximately 20 minutes at a supersite from start to finish, including their 15-minute recovery period.
“The pilot will test a new model that aims to provide better patient care, which is especially important for vulnerable Manitobans accessing these sites, as it can be a difficult and overwhelming process,” Premier Brian Pallister said on Friday outside of the Access Event Centre in Morden.
The southern Manitoba community will be the province’s fifth supersite when it opens to the public on Monday, March 22.
The same streamlined process, which was inspired by the ‘hockey hub’ model used in part of Ontario, will also be tested at the RBC Convention Centre supersite.
Manitoba lowered the eligibility to be immunized on Friday to include individuals aged 69 or older and First Nations people aged 49 or older.
Next week, Manitoba expects to receive 42,120 doses of Pfizer and 40,600 doses of Moderna vaccines.
