Health Minister Paul Merriman. (Lisa Schick/980 CJME file photo)

By Lisa Schick/CJME News

Health minister hoping Sask. gets Johnson & Johnson vaccine

Nov 1, 2021 | 5:11 PM

Those who still haven’t got a COVID-19 shot could have another option in the coming weeks to join the ranks of the fully vaccinated.

Saskatchewan Health Minister Paul Merriman said Monday he has made a request to the federal government for doses of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

“We are working on getting them in with the federal government. Obviously it has got to go through the procurement, but we have asked for an allotment of Johnson & Johnson,” said Merriman.

Alberta has made a similar request, according to Merriman.

The minister said there have been lots of requests for the J&J vaccine and he said it’ll be useful to get to people who might prefer that one shot over others.

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Merriman couldn’t say how many shots he’d asked for, but did say he’s hoping for the doses before the end of the month — though he did caution that hadn’t been confirmed by the federal government.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was approved for use by Health Canada in March, but the initial shipment of 300,000 doses was never used because of concerns about the plant where they were produced.