(Government of Saskatchewan/Submitted)

By CKOM News Staff

COVID vaccine arrives in Regina; health-care workers to get first doses Tuesday

Dec 15, 2020 | 4:07 PM

A number of health-care workers in Saskatchewan are to become the first people in the province to get COVID-19 vaccinations Tuesday.

In a media release just after 3 p.m., the provincial government said the first doses of Pfizer’s vaccine had arrived in Regina. A pilot program calling for the immunization of 1,950 health-care workers is to begin at 6 p.m., at Regina’s General Hospital.

“Today is an incredibly exciting day in our fight against COVID-19, as nearly 2,000 people who have been on the front lines delivering care since the beginning of the pandemic start being immunized with their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine,” Premier Scott Moe said in the release.

“As the first health-care workers in Saskatchewan receive the vaccine, I encourage all Saskatchewan residents to get vaccinated when the vaccine is made available to them.”

The pilot program will see health-care workers in intensive care units, emergency departments and COVID units at the General and Pasqua hospitals as well as staff at testing and assessment centres get immunized over several days.

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Those who get vaccinated will receive their second dose 21 days after they get their first dose.

“I have seen the devastating effects of COVID-19 on the patients I have cared for in the intensive care unit, as well as its effects on their families,” critical care physician Dr. Jeffrey Betcher, who is to be among the group to be vaccinated, said in the release.

“Accepting the vaccine is part of my responsibility as a physician. It will protect me, my patients, my colleagues, friends and family.”

The Saskatchewan government laid out its vaccine distribution plan Dec. 9, the first feature of which is the pilot program. After that, the first phase is expected to start later in December and continue through the first quarter of 2021.

That phase is to focus on groups that are at a higher risk of exposure or of serious illness, including health-care workers, elderly residents in care homes, seniors over the age of 80, and residents in remote and northern communities.

In preparation for the vaccine’s arrival, the Saskatchewan Health Authority staged a dry run Monday at the General. The trial was used as a teaching tool to get teams ready for the first vaccinations as well as those that will follow.

The second phase of the vaccine delivery plan is expected to begin in April and will continue with vaccinations of the so-called “priority population,” while also starting widespread vaccinations among the province’s population.

In the meantime, the provincial government is reminding people to follow public health orders and continue with basic measures like hand-washing, social distancing and wearing a mask.