1 adverse reaction reported as 490 more Manitobans receive COVID-19 vaccine

Manitoba public health officials say 490 more people received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, and one person had an "adverse reaction,"according to a news release issued on Christmas Eve.

The province didn't say what kind of reaction the person had, but Health Canada has advised people with severe allergies to any of the ingredients in the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine not to get it.

That's after two people in the U.K. went had anaphylactoid allergic reactions after they were immunized earlier this month.

No other adverse reactions have been reported in the province.

A total of 2,177 immunizations have been given since the vaccine arrived in Manitoba earlier this month.

So far, only certain front-line health-care workers are eligible to receive the vaccine in Manitoba.

The province says it's opening up criteria so more workers can get inoculated after Christmas. The workers must all still have direct contact with patients and work in certain units, but the province is scrapping the age requirement for workers in critical care.

Other eligible workers must meet one of the following criteria:

• Work in long-term care facilities and be born on or before Dec. 31, 1962.
• Work in acute care facilities and be born on or before Dec. 31, 1962.
• Be assigned to a COVID-19 immunization clinic or testing site.

The province says 500 more appointments forvaccinations are availablefollowing Christmas. The clinic will reopen on Dec. 29 and 30 and vaccinate approximately 900 people.

Starting in the new year, a broader swath of health-care workersincluding paramedics and those who work in home care will be eligible for innoculation.

The vaccine requires two doses; the second doses will be administered at the RBC Convention Centre site in three weeks, health officials have said.

The first shots will be given out at the University of Manitoba's Bannatyne campus, adjacent to Health Sciences Centre. That site was chosen because it has the capacity to store the Pfizer-BioNTechvaccine, which must be kept at ultra-low temperatures.