WINNIPEG -- The Manitoba government has reported its first COVID-19 death of a fully vaccinated person, a rare occurrence during the vaccination campaign.
Data from the province obtained by CTV on Tuesday shows the death occurred more than one week after the person receiving their second dose of the vaccine. The person was over the age of 65, according to the data.
As of May 16, Manitoba has administered 81,233 second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Of those immunized with a second dose, the province reported 107 COVID-19 infections and 10 hospitalizations.
The province said the death of a fully vaccinated person is rare.
“The single death after two doses is one case out of more than 79,000 individuals who have received two doses of vaccine,” a spokesperson for the province said in a statement.
“While no vaccine provides 100 per cent protection, it has significantly reduced the severe effects of COVID-19 for thousands of Manitobans.”
Manitoba has administered 657,634 COVID-19 vaccine doses as of Tuesday.
The province has reported 551 COVID-19 infections within 14 days of the first dose being administered, including 40 hospitalizations and eight deaths. The province said the numbers are in line with what they expect to see during a normal vaccine rollout.
The provincial spokesperson said an infection within 14 days after the first dose is not considered vaccine breakthrough.
They said the immune response takes about two weeks to build up following a vaccine dose.
“Any infection that occurs during the first two weeks was either contracted before the dose was given or before the body had mounted an immune response,” the spokesperson said.
During a Monday news conference, Lanette Siragusa, Shared Health’s chief nursing officer, said people need to be cautious for at least three weeks after receiving their COVID-19 vaccine to allow antibodies to build.
She said after three weeks, the vaccines were approximately 90 per cent effective.
