Sask. vaccination program temporarily stalled, waits on 11,000 doses this week: premier

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says the vaccination program is temporarily stalled as the province awaits about 11,000 doses this week.

Moe says that by the end of the week, approximately 12 per cent of the 190,000 people in phase one of Sask's vaccination program will have received at least their first dose.

"The vaccines are working. We just need to get more people vaccinated — quite a few more here in Saskatchewan — because that's the path for us out of this pandemic. That's the way that we get things back to normal," Moe said at a COVID-19 update in Regina on Tuesday. 

"Our health-care workers have been doing a great job, and I think they've been doing a great job of ensuring that they are getting needles into the arms of people in this province as quickly as possible. 

"But those efforts have pretty much ground to a standstill here today and in recent days, as we have not received any vaccine shipments in over a week now."

The next shipment of Pfizer-BioNtech doses will be used to administer second shots in North Battleford, Saskatoon and in Prince Albert, as well as first shots in the community of Moosomin.

The incoming shipment of Moderna doses will primarily be used for second shots in the far north and the northwest region of the province. It will also be used for first shots in the communities of Rosetown and Kindersley in the west central region of the province. 

Moe said the supplies coming in from both Pfizer-BioNtech and Moderna are arriving later than originally expected, and are reduced. The next shipment of Moderna vaccine scheduled for the last week of February will now also be reduced. 

"While it's good to say that we are starting to again receive some vaccines, they are still very small numbers compared to what we need and compared to what we are able to deliver in this province," said Moe. 

Phase one of Saskatchewan's immunization plan covers health-care workers, residents and staff in long-term care homes and other residents over 70 years old. Moe says that totals at approximately 190,000 people in the province. 

"We are working with vaccines that require two doses or two shots. So we need for those 190,000 people about 380,000 vaccine doses just to cover everyone in phase one. So far, we have received under 10 per cent of that amount. This week's shipments will bump that number to about 12 per cent of our phase one target. So we have a long ways to go just to get through phase one," Moe said. 

"The federal government says that we can expect vaccine deliveries to really ramp up in the second quarter of this year, and we would like to see that happen sooner."

Moe says the province would like to see more vaccines approved in Canada as well, so more doses can be shipped to Saskatchewan. 

But he says when vaccines become available, uptake needs to be high in order to protect people and keep coronavirus variants at bay.

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