High-risk Manitobans now eligible for spring bivalent booster

Booster shots of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine are displayed during a vaccine clinic in Townshend, Vt., on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022. Canada approved the shot on Oct 7. (Kristopher Radder/The Brattleboro Reformer via AP)

Manitobans who are at the highest risk of serious outcomes related to COVID-19 are now eligible to receive a spring bivalent booster.

On Monday, the Manitoba government announced the following groups are eligible for the dose:

• Anyone aged 65 or older;
• Indigenous Manitobans aged 45 and older, including First Nations, Inuit and Métis people;
• Residents of long-term care or assisted living facilities; and
• Those aged 18 and older who are moderately to severely immunocompromised.

The province recommends that Manitobans wait six months between booster doses. It also suggests that people wait six months between a COVID-19 infection and receiving a vaccine. However, at minimum, people need to have recovered from COVID-19.

Those who are eligible should discuss the timing of their booster with a health-care provider. The province is expecting a fall 2023 COVID booster campaign, so the timing of a spring dose could impact when someone will eligible to receive a booster in the fall.

Those who didn’t receive a booster dose as part of the fall 2022 campaign are encouraged to do so. Vaccines are available at medical clinics, pharmacies and a number of other locations, which can be found online. 

As of March 4, about 78 per cent of all Manitobans have received at least two doses of the vaccine. About 20 per cent have gotten at lease one dose of a bivalent vaccine.