WINNIPEG -- With the vaccine in short supply in Manitoba, the doctor in charge of the province's vaccine task force is trying to ease people's minds about vaccine waste.

Dr. Joss Reimer, the medical lead of Manitoba's Vaccine Implementation Task Force, said she understands why people might be bothered by wasting vaccine, but noted it is part of any vaccine campaign.

"Believe me when I say the people in our clinics, our focused immunization teams and those providing COVID-19 vaccines in any other settings are very aware of how precious it is," said Reimer.

"The manufacturers and the Public Health Agency of Canada told us to expect about five per cent wastage."

Despite what they were told, Reimer said Manitoba has seen a wastage rate of around 0.4 to 0.5 per cent.

Of the over 50,000 doses of the vaccine that have been administered so far in the province, 246 doses have been lost.

"This is thanks to the hard work and the diligence of our immunizers," she said. "We know that over time as more sites open, as we immunize more people, as we expand outside of our fixed sites, that number is going to go up. That's normal."

Reimer said no matter what, every vaccine campaign wastes some vaccine and there are several reasons for that.

"There could be vials that don't look as expected," she said. "They might be cloudy, they may have sediment in them. Giving a vaccine like that may not be safe."

She said someone could also touch a non-sterile surface after the vaccine has been drawn into the needle, or the patient might move just before they are going to get the vaccine.

Reimer added there is also a chance that some doses might be left at the end of the day at the vaccine sites.

"The number of doses left at the end of the day is very small because we very carefully only use vials as we need them."

Reimer said a vaccine campaign that has zero wastage is not a safe campaign.

"We want our staff to feel that they can be honest with any situations when the vaccine or the syringe are compromised.”

She said if this wasn't the case, it wouldn't be safe for Manitobans.

Reimer feels that having an unsafe vaccination campaign is worse than wasting doses.