As of this week, about 64 per cent of people eligible in the health district covering Flin Flon have had a COVID-19 vaccine dose - and several clinics are coming in the next month to boost those numbers even higher.
The Northern Health Region (NHR) announced 12 further pop-up clinics in Flin Flon May 26, each at the Flin Flon Community Hall. The clinics will be held May 27 and 28 and June 3, 4, 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 24, 25 and 30. Appointments are available for each day and organizers are planning to allow walk-in vaccinations. A special walk-in clinic for youths age 12-17 will be held May 29, where youths will receive doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines - all other appointments will use doses of the Moderna vaccine.
Anyone age 12 and up who lives or works in the NHR can receive a first dose of vaccine at the Flin Flon site - youth ages 12-17 can only receive Pfizer-BioNTech doses, as the Moderna vaccine has not yet been approved for use in people under age 18.
Second doses will also be available for people who qualify. Under current provincial eligibility rules, anyone who received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine before March 29 (including all Indigenous people 12 years old and older) and people who have one of a list of health conditions or take certain medications can book appointments for second doses. A full list of qualifying medications and health conditions can be found on the provincial government website.
All second-dose recipients must also be at least 28 days removed from their first dose of Moderna vaccine (or 21 days, if they received a Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine dose).
According to the Manitoba government's vaccine dashboard, the Flin Flon/Snow Lake/Cranberry Portage/Sherridon health district has a vaccine uptake of 63.9 per cent. While the number is growing, it is far from the highest rate in the NHR - that belongs to Cross Lake/Pimicikamak and Norway House, where more than 82 per cent of people have had at least one vaccine dose.
The lowest vaccine rate in the NHR is in the remote Lynn Lake/Marcel Colomb/Leaf Rapids/O-Pipon-Na-Piwin/Granville Lake district, where only 45.8 per cent of people have had a COVID-19 vaccine dose - the only district in the NHR where less than half of all eligible people have gotten a dose.
A second northern Manitoba vaccination supersite is in the works, with the provincial government planning to unveil a site in The Pas at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 19 Hall on Veteran's Way. The site is expected to open to the public June 8. Like other provincial supersites, the supersite will offer doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines each day and appointments can be booked online, unlike pop-up clinics which operate only on certain days and only take appointments made by phone or walk-ins.
