Manitoba delays deployment of COVID-19 vaccination clinics to schools

A plan to send COVID-19 vaccination clinics to Manitoba schools has been delayed because the province took extra time to decide how to provide shots to students who don't have parental consent.

The vaccination clinics announced on Aug. 5 will not be deployed until the week of Sept. 20 or later, according to a provincial memo obtained by CBC News.

Although most students returned to class earlier this week, education officials have yet to inform many schools about the clinics or even draft a letter to parents about the clinics, according to the memo.

Some clinics that have been scheduled are being cancelled and must be rescheduled, the memo states.

The delay stemmed from uncertainty about how students under the age of 18 can provide consent to their own shots at the school clinics, the way some minors have been accommodated at vaccination supersites, according to a separate Manitoba Public Health memo.

"Due to ongoing discussions and pending decisions associated with mature minor consent in school settings, the start date for the school based COVID program is delayed," the memo states.

"The initial clinic dates will also be delayed accordingly. When further information is available, a new timeline will be established. It is important to continue with the planning process so that we are ready to implement once approvals are received."

Since May, kids aged 16 or 17 have been able to obtain COVID shots at supersites without parental consent if they are deemed to understand the consequences. So can kids aged 12 to 15 who understand the consequences, but only after a public health nurse tries to contact their parent or guardian.

Only kids aged 16 and older will be given COVID shots at the clinics during school hours if they don't have parental consent, according to one of the provincial memos.

Manitoba Public Health declined to confirm this policy.

"Thoughtful discussion among many affected groups has taken place with respect to the school-based vaccination campaign. It was important to reach consensus prior to moving forward," a provincial spokesperson said in a statement. "Information letters will be going out to school communities and parents this week."

Public health would not say why regular parental-consent forms for COVID-19 vaccines were not completed before the school year.

Consent forms for other vaccines available in schools are already online.

The delay in administering COVID vaccines in schools effectively stymies a provincial effort to ensure more lower-income students have access to vaccines.

In early August, the medical lead of the vaccine implementation team said Manitoba is rolling out a school-based COVID-19 immunization campaign to address barriers some families faced in getting their kids vaccinated.

Dr. Joss Reimer said the mobile clinics will make stops in all schools with students age 12 to 17, but will start in areas with lower vaccine uptake, the province said in a later news release.

"Getting youth vaccinated as soon as possible is our priority, and so we're going to leverage our strong school immunization program to also include COVID-19 vaccines," Reimer said on Aug. 5.

On Tuesday, Deputy Provincial Public Health Officer Dr. Jazz Atwal said he expects COVID-19 infection rates to rise in Manitoba now that school is back.

"With schools opening up, we know we're going to have a lot more interactions with people. We anticipate obviously there will be more cases just because there's going to be those interactions," Atwal said.