3rd time, no charm: Once a COVID vaccine leader, Manitoba lags on booster doses – CBC

No simple explanation for Manitoba’s status as the 3rd-worst province for getting out 3rd doses

Apr 28, 2022

By any objective measure, Manitoba’s efforts to get as many people as possible immunized against COVID-19 was an immense success during the initial phases of the vaccination program.

As of April 10, the most recent date for which the province has reported vaccine data to the federal government, 89.7 per cent of people in this province age 12 and up have received two doses of COVID-19 vaccines.

That’s slightly better than the national average of 89.5 per cent.

But when it comes to third doses — the booster shots that replenish the human body’s ability to generate antibodies against the virus that causes COVID, help reduce the spread of the illness and mitigate the severity of the illness for people who do get sick — Manitoba has fallen well behind the national pack.

As of April 10, only 50.5 per cent of Manitobans age 12 and up have received three or more COVID-19 vaccine doses. That’s well behind the national average of 54.3 per cent and third-worst among the provinces.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/manitoba-third-dose-laggard-analysis-1.6433157