
Manitobans 70 and older, Indigenous people 18 and up now eligible for 3rd doses of COVID-19 vaccine
CBC
Manitobans over 70 and all First Nations, Métis and Inuit people 18 and older are now eligible for a third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, the province says in a vaccine bulletin on Wednesday.
The third dose should be given at least six months after the last dose received, the bulletin says.
Third doses are available at many medical clinics, pharmacies, urban Indigenous sites and other vaccine clinics throughout the province.
Public health officials recommend that people get an mRNA vaccine for their third dose — Pfizer BioNTech or Moderna — and whenever possible, that dose should be the same as the previous one.
Either mRNA vaccine is safe to receive.
This announcement comes after the National Advisory Committee on Immunization advised that adults over 80 "should" be offered a booster shot because they are among the populations "at highest risk of waning protection following their primary series and at highest risk of severe COVID-19 illness."
However, adults 70 and up "may" be offered a booster shot, because they "may be at increased risk of lower protection over time since vaccination [or] increased risk of severe illness."