Why Manitoba does not report daily COVID-19 cases by vaccination status anymore

The province has changed the way it reports daily infections based on vaccination status, which one epidemiologist says is the right step that can provide a clearer picture for Manitobans.

In December 2021, the province stopped reporting the breakdown of daily COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and intensive care unit admissions by vaccination status. It now provides a breakdown of cases, hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and deaths by vaccination status based on the previous six weeks of data.

When asked why the breakdown of daily cases by vaccination status is no longer being reported, a provincial spokesperson told CTV News the province is looking to ensure accurate and helpful information is displayed on its COVID-19 dashboard.

"At the start, counts were appropriate but as the denominator changes, counts are no longer appropriate for use," the spokesperson said in an email to CTV News. "Now, the province is presenting rates to ensure people understand the true impact of immunization."

Cynthia Carr, the founder of EPI Research, said this change in how the province reports infections by vaccination status is the right thing to do in terms of providing meaningful data.

"When you react to daily small numbers, those numbers can go up and down all over the place, and people really can be confused or misdirected," Carr said, adding average rates can help present a clearer picture.

"So we put together, whether it’s a month of data or a couple of years of data, because we want to avoid those false ups and downs that can really confuse and misdirect people."

The epidemiologist said the way the province was previously releasing the data – breaking down daily cases by vaccination status – did not take into account the wider population.

She said, as an example, if 100 per cent of the population were vaccinated and one person was in hospital – then 100 per cent of the people in hospital would be vaccinated, but that percentage does not give a clear picture of the risk.

"That is one person out of 1.4 million people, so it has to be presented in a way that people understand that," she said.

"I know that people still are not making that connection, I know that people are still grabbing those pie charts as proof and really wanting to ignore what we as epidemiologists and public health communicators are trying to say."

Dr. Joss Reimer, the medical lead of Manitoba's vaccine implementation task force, said those who are fully vaccinated face a much lower risk of severe outcomes compared to someone who is unvaccinated.

New age-standardized data from Nov. 22, 2021, to Jan. 3, 2022, presented during a public health update on Wednesday shows how much that risk is lowered by vaccinations.

"We want you to get the benefit of these vaccines – whether that's your first, second, or your booster dose – to be able to reduce the chance of these severe outcomes for you," Reimer said.

The data presented by Reimer shows someone with one dose is three times less likely to wind up in the hospital or ICU, and 11 times less likely to die, compared to an unvaccinated person.

A person who has two doses is six times less likely to end up in hospital, 19 times less likely to end up in the ICU or die, compared to an unvaccinated person.

Someone who has rolled up their sleeve for a booster shot is 26 times less likely to be hospitalized, 139 times less likely to require ICU care, and 63 times less likely to die, compared to an unvaccinated person.