File photo/paNOW Staff

By paNOW Staff

Latest from the province

Daily COVID-19 update; vaccine eligibility expanded to 29+, 13,651 vaccines given, 177 new cases

May 9, 2021 | 1:49 PM

An additional daily record of 13,651 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 518,133.

The 13,651 doses of COVID-19 vaccine reported today were administered to residents living in the following zones: Far North West, 123; Far North Central, six; Far North East, 90; North West, 679; North Central, 848; North East, 486; Saskatoon, 4,664; Central West, 425; Central East, 1,170; Regina, 2,311; South West, 493; South Central, 973; and South East, 988. There were 395 doses administered with zone of residence pending.

Seventy-one per cent of those over the age of 40 have received their first dose, which meets an important vaccination threshold criteria for Step One of the Saskatchewan Re-Opening Roadmap to be activated in three weeks. A separate news release containing additional information on the Step-One target date has been issued and can be accessed at saskatchewan.ca/news. Fifty-nine per cent of those 30+ have received their first dose. Fifty per cent of those 18+ have received their first dose.

All vaccine administration details for the province, including first and second doses, can be found here. As the source database for vaccine information, Panorama is subject to continuous data updates which may result in revised counts, day over day.

Saskatchewan expects to receive 63,180 Pfizer doses the week of May 10. The vaccine will be distributed as follows: Regina (10,530), Saskatoon (8,190), pharmacies (31,590), North Battleford (2,340), Prince Albert (1,170), Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) North (2,340), ISC South (2,340), ISC North Battleford (1,170), and Northern Inter-Tribal Health Authority (NITHA) Prince Albert (3,510) with deliveries to be completed by Wednesday, May 12.

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Province targets May 30 to start re-opening

Now that more than 70 per cent of Saskatchewan residents age 40 and older have received their first shot of Covid-19 vaccine, that surpasses the province’s threshold for Step One of its Re-Opening Roadmap. The province has set May 30 as the target date for the commencement of Step One.

“We are able to move forward with Step One of the Re-Opening Roadmap because so many Saskatchewan people are doing their part and getting vaccinated, and because we are all following the public health orders and guidelines to reduce the spread of COVID-19,” Premier Scott Moe said in a statement. “The road back to normal runs right through our vaccination clinics and pharmacies. I want to thank the thousands of health care workers who are delivering those vaccine shots every day in every part of the province, and I want to thank the hundreds of thousands of Saskatchewan people who have done your part by getting vaccinated.”

According to the criteria set out in the Re-Opening Roadmap, all adults ages 18+ are anticipated to have access to the COVID-19 vaccine by the target date, and the Ministry of Health will continue to monitor health system capacity.

The following changes will be made to public health orders during Step One of the Re-Opening Roadmap:

• Restaurants and bars open, maximum of six at a table, two metres or structural barriers between tables, dance floors and buffets remain closed, VLTs may re-open;
• 30 per cent of capacity or 150 people, whichever is less, at places of worship, with physical distancing between households;
• Group fitness classes involving intense training, like aerobics and spin, can resume, with three metres between participants;
• Current restrictions remain in place for retail, personal care services, event facilities, casinos, bingo halls, theatres, art galleries, libraries and recreational facilities;
• Current protocols remain in place for primary, secondary and post-secondary education and for childcare;
• Limit of 10 people at private indoor and outdoor gatherings, including household gatherings;
• Limit of 30 people at public indoor gatherings;
• Limit of 150 people at public outdoor gatherings; and
• Current province-wide masking mandate remains in place.

Vaccination Booking System Open to Age 32+; changes to 29+ on Monday

Effective 8 a.m. Monday, eligibility in the provincial age-based immunization program moves to 29 years of age and older. It remains 18+ for the Northern Saskatchewan Administration District. This applies to all immunization clinics: booked appointments, drive-thru/walk-ins, pharmacies and mobile clinics.

Prioritized front-line workers are also eligible. A list of those occupations is available here. Eligible priority groups may visit a drive-thru or walk-in clinic, arrange an appointment with a participating pharmacy, or call 1-833-SaskVax (1-833-727-5829) to make an appointment through the SHA booking system. Prioritized front-line workers will be required to provide proof of employment at the time of immunization (a pay stub, letter from their employer, or a copy of a professional license).

There may be clinic options outside your community and residents are encouraged to consider those alternate locations for immunization. Additional stops should be avoided if possible. More clinics will be added as new vaccine shipments are received.

Residents aged 32+ may book online here or by calling 1-833-SaskVax (1-833-727-5829). They may also attend a scheduled drive-thru or book at a participating pharmacy. Additional information on how to book your appointment is available here. Please do not call until you are eligible to book your vaccination appointment.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority has scheduled drive-thru and walk-in clinics throughout the province. For street addresses and hours of operation for these clinics, see here.

The pharmacy vaccination pilot rollout continues and additional pharmacies will be added as larger volumes of vaccine become available. The current list of pharmacies participating is available here. Find the participating pharmacies near you now on the new map tool.

Individuals who experience a severe or unusual reaction after getting a COVID-19 vaccination can report it by calling 811. Anyone experiencing a severe reaction such as difficulty breathing should call 911. Any adverse event that may be related to a vaccination is reported in order to continuously monitor the safety of vaccines.

Submitted photo/Saskatchewan Health Authority

Daily COVID-19 Statistics

There are 177 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan on Sunday, bringing the provincial total to 43,141 cases.

No new deaths were reported.

The new cases are located in the following zones: Far North West, 8; North West, 18; North Central, 9; Saskatoon, 40; Central West, one, Central East, 14; Regina, 42; South West, 11; South Central, 15; and South East, 18. One new case is pending residence information. Two new cases with pending residence information has been assigned to the North Central zone (one) and Regina (one).

Recoveries total 40,379 and 2,260 cases are considered active.

There are 157 people in hospital. One hundred and sixteen people are receiving inpatient care: North West, eight; North Central, three; North East, two; Saskatoon, 52; Central East, 2; Regina, 41; South West, 1; South Central, three; and South East, four. Forty-one people are in intensive care: North Central, 3; Saskatoon, 15; Central East, two; Regina, 19; South West, one; and South Central, one.

The seven-day average of new COVID-19 case number is 213 (17.4 new cases per 100,000). A chart comparing today’s average to data collected over the past few months is available here.

There were 3,055 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on Saturday.

As of May 8, 8,258 variants of concern have been identified by screening in Saskatchewan, reported in the following zones: Far North West, 183; Far North East, 6; North West, 307; North Central, 230; North East, 48; Saskatoon, 1,001; Central West, 91; Central East, 366; Regina, 4,185; South West, 263; South Central, 601; and South East, 848. There are 129 screened VOCs with residence pending.

There are 230 new lineage results reported today. Of the 3,344 VOCs with lineages identified by whole genome sequencing in Saskatchewan, 3,288 are B.1.1.1.7 (UK), 47 are P.1 (Brazilian) and nine are B.1.351 (SA).

Confirmed variant of concern cases may appear in both columns on the website, depending on testing for that case. Adding the cases identified by screening and those that have received whole genome sequencing may result in double-counting individual cases.

Further statistics on the total number of cases among health care workers, breakdowns of total cases by source of infection, age, sex and region, total tests to date, per capita testing rate and current numbers of confirmed variants of concern can be found here.

Facebook/NITHA Saskatchewan

NITHA numbers

There are 34 active cases of COVID-19 in NITHA communities.
These cases are located in the Far North West, 17, Far North East, 13, and North East, four; 3,455 cases (98 per cent) have recovered.

There are 19 active cases of COVID-19 Variants of Concern (VOCs) in NITHA communities. These cases are located in the Far North West (15), and Far North East (four).

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panews@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow