Manitoba outlines COVID-19 vaccine task force structure, but names only 2 of more than 70 members

Manitoba government officials presented the governance structure of the COVID-19 vaccine implementation task force during a technical briefing Tuesday afternoon — but aside from identifying the task force's co-leads, no other key members were specifically named.

"We know that there have been many questions with regards to the structure of the task force, so we wanted to give an opportunity to present some information about how the task force is set up and how we do what we do," said one of the senior government officials who spoke on background during Tuesday's briefing.

Physicians and other health experts have raised concerns recently about a lack of transparency with the task force in charge of Manitoba's immunization program. In an opinion piece for CBC Manitoba, Dr. Jillian Horton said the fact the public doesn't know who is actually in charge of making decisions may erode public trust.

The presentation delivered to reporters at Tuesday's technical briefing shows the task force's hierarchy of command and the number of people involved, and explains the roles and operations of the task force and its subgroups.

More than 70 public servants from various provincial ministries and workers from Crown corporations are assigned to the vaccine task force. There are over 1,700 other people in place to "support the immunization campaign," the presentation says, including 1,100 new hires in the province's five health regions, and 600 assigned from regional health authorities.

Those workers fall into one of eight teams, such as planning, logistics, or workforce and operations. Helping those eight teams are some external supporters, such as the Canadian Armed Forces, who provide expertise in logistics, transportation, human resources management, data and scheduling appointments, the presentation says.

The teams report to task force medical lead Dr. Joss Reimer and operations lead Johanu Botha, Manitoba's assistant deputy manager of emergency management.

There is also an advisory board — the Vaccine Medical Advisory Table — which provides medical and clinical guidance on safely administering vaccines to Manitobans. There are 35 physicians, five pharmacists and three nurses involved with that board, which reports to Reimer.

Another body, referred to as Collaboration Tables, reports to Botha, but that body's role was not defined in the presentation.

Reimer and Botha both report to the Clerk's COVID-19 Co-ordinating Committee, which includes the clerk of the executive council — Manitoba's top civil servant — as well as associate clerks, the chief provincial public health officer and chief provincial nursing officer, and various deputy ministers, among others, according to the briefing report.

Reimer, as medical lead, would also report to the minister of health.

That operational hierarchy is similar to that followed by Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba's chief provincial public health officer, and Lanette Siragusa, chief nursing officer of Manitoba Shared Health, according to the presentation.

Aside from Reimer and Botha, however, no other key players of the task force were specifically named.

In contrast, the Ontario government has publicly named who was appointed to its vaccination task force. 

Generally, the Manitoba government hasn't been specific because it's "a large and varied group" made up of mostly civil servants, one of the government officials at Tuesday's briefing said.