Winnipeg 
Manitoba’s reopening plan will see the province loosen public health restrictions as more people get a COVID-19 vaccination.
The government’s plan focuses on four reopening categories: gatherings, travel, shopping and dining.
The first immunization target is to have over 70 per cent of Manitobans 12 and older with a first dose and over 25 per cent with a second dose by Canada Day.
Manitoba says it will loosen public health restrictions as more people get vaccinated against COVID-19.
The government’s reopening plan focuses on gatherings, travel, shopping and dining. Restrictions in those areas will be loosened if vaccination goals are met by certain dates.
“The more of us who get vaccinated, the faster we can regain our freedoms and enjoy what we’ve lost this past year and a half,” Premier Brian Pallister said Thursday.
The first immunization target is to have more than 70 per cent of Manitobans 12 and older with a first dose and more than 25 per cent with a second dose by Canada Day.
If that happens, the province says, businesses and other facilities will be able to open at 25 per cent capacity.
Businesses will be allowed to open at half capacity if 75 per cent of people have had one dose and 50 per cent have had a second shot by the August long weekend.
The final target calls for 80 per cent of the population to have had one shot and 75 per cent with two shots by Labour Day in September. In that case, most businesses, services and facilities would be able to open with limited restrictions.
Manitoba has been under tight public health orders since a delayed third wave caused a significant surge in COVID-19 infections last month.
Dr. Brent Roussin, chief provincial public health officer, has said that Manitoba is not able to open everything at once, given ongoing demands on health care.
Pallister on Wednesday announced a lottery with cash prizes of $100,000 to try to encourage people to get vaccinated.
Manitoba is moving ahead Saturday to allow small outdoor gatherings, but restrictions on businesses will remain in place.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 10, 2021.
The Canadian Press
4-3-2-One Great Summer Reopening Path
- four reopening categories – gathering and socializing, travel and tourism, shopping and services, and dining out and entertainment;
- three holiday milestones – Canada Day, August Long Weekend and Labour Day; and
- two public health responsibilities – getting vaccinated and following public health orders that lower the risk of COVID-19.
Key to reopening safely is Manitoba’s collective progress in getting vaccinated and reducing COVID-19 spread in communities and hospitals. Each holiday milestone for reopening will have a one-dose and two-dose immunization goal to guide progress in keeping Manitobans safe.
The immunization targets are:
- over 70 per cent of all Manitobans aged 12 and over have received their first dose and over 25 per have received their second dose by Canada Day;
- 75 per cent or greater of all Manitobans aged 12 and over have received their first dose and over 50 per have received their second dose by the August long weekend; and
- 80 per cent or greater of all Manitobans aged 12 and over have received their first dose and over 75 per have received their second dose by Labour Day.
Reopening activity levels will be tied to the first and second dose immunization targets including:
- meeting vaccine targets by Canada Day means businesses, services and facilities can open at 25 per cent capacity or greater levels;
- meeting vaccine targets by the August long weekend means businesses, services and facilities can open at 50 per cent capacity or greater levels; and
- meeting vaccine targets by Labour Day means businesses, services and facilities can open with limited restrictions.
The people of Manitoba were duped. We bought into a system that would allow us to go maskless once we reached our goal. 3 weeks later the mask mandate was reimplemented despite very low transmission numbers. This asinine/backwards thinking plan has seeded distrust in the average Manitoban who thought they were able to go back to a somewhat regular lifestyle again. Furthermore, the people who have already had a Covid infection are still required to get a vaccination to go to restaurants and fitness facilities (despite overwhelming evidence that natural immunity is equal and in some cases more effective than the vaccination itself). But let’s ignore science and put faith in a government that is so cowardly that we must live in fear and stay masked for years to come!! Because it’s now about governmental policy.