Manitobans received a significant update on Wednesday regarding the province’s vaccination campaign.
Dr. Joss Reimer, medical lead for Manitoba's vaccine task force, says the province expects to start receiving doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine by mid-March.
The AstraZeneca jab will first be put to use for at-risk Manitobans age 50 to 64.
Some experts say there isn’t enough data available at this time on the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine for those over the age of 65.
Reimer says the newly approved vaccine will not be given to any Manitobans over the age of 65, but suggests that could change as more data becomes available.
Manitoba’s vaccine task force will now be extending the period of time between the first and second dose in an effort to get more people some level of protection as soon as possible.
Data from some other counties, such as Scotland and Israel, suggests a single dose of an mRNA-based vaccine could be 70% to 80% effective in preventing infection.
With three vaccines now approved for use in Canada, and possibly a fourth on the way with Johnson and Johnson's option, it's still unclear how effective the vaccines are against new COVID variants.
