WINNIPEG -- Manitoba health officials are asking non-Indigenous Manitobans to not attend urban Indigenous clinics to get their COVID-19 vaccine.

On Friday, Dr. Joss Reimer, medical lead for Manitoba’s Vaccine Implementation Task Force, said these clinics were specifically created to increase accessibility and provide culturally safe spaces for First Nations (both status and non-status), Metis, and Inuit people.

“When non-Indigenous people make appointments or use the walk-in spaces at those sites, it limits access for First Nations, Metis, and Inuit peoples,” she said.

Health officials ask that only Manitobans who self-identify as First Nations, Metis, or Inuit, or those who live with someone who self-identifies as Indigenous, go to these clinics.

“Non-Indigenous people who don’t share a household with someone who self-identifies as Indigenous are asked to make appointments at supersites, community pop-up clinics, medical clinics, and pharmacies,” Reimer said.

The urban Indigenous clinics are located in Winnipeg, Thompson, Brandon, and Portage la Prairie.