Front line police and fire fighters are now eligible to make appointments to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Manitoba.  Eligibility to be immunized at a super site or pop-up clinic has also been extended to include individuals aged 50 or older and First Nations people aged 30 or older.  The province is also planning to open vaccinations to anyone 18 and over living in high risk geographic areas with details to be released Friday. Eligibility for the AstraZeneca vaccine includes all individuals aged 40 and over.

Manitoba public health reported 162 new cases of COVID-19 this afternoon bringing the five day test positivity rate to 6.3 percent.  They also reported one additional death in the Northern health region.  Of the new cases 76 were in Winnipeg, 30 in Northern health, 24 in Southern health, 19 in Prairie Mountain and 15 in Interlake Eastern regions. Of the total 36,632 reported cases 1833 are active and 33,838 individuals have recovered. A total of 774 variants of concern cases have been reported to date with 238 active and 18 are still reported in the Northern health region.