‘This is the time’: Merriman urging people to get vaccinated

Saskatchewan’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign reported its biggest day yet Thursday, but health officials in the province want more.

“We’ve never had more vaccines available in our province,” Health Minister Paul Merriman said during a media conference. “This is the time.”

The Ministry of Health said 24,971 vaccinations had been done in the latest reporting period, the highest single-day total since Saskatchewan started immunizing people against COVID in December.

As Merriman pointed out, the total announced Thursday is two per cent of the province’s population.

Of that total, 22,552 were second doses, increasing the total number of people fully vaccinated to 334,515 (or 32 per cent of the eligible population in the province).

But that means only 2,419 people got a first dose, further evidence the rollout is slowing in some age groups.

As of Thursday, only 53 per cent of people between the ages of 18 and 29, 55 per cent of those aged 12 to 17, and 59 per cent of individuals aged 30 to 39 have got their first dose.

The percentage of people over 12 who have received their first shot has stalled at 69 per cent. Health officials have long held they want to see that number reach 80 per cent.

Merriman pointed to Thursday’s numbers as proof the province can get to that level.

“If we can get 25,000 doses in a day and 10 per cent of those are new doses, we’re certainly going to creep up there to get to that 80 per cent,” said Merriman, who noted people are going to keep getting shots through the summer — and that will help the province’s numbers rise.

Saskatchewan has expanded its vaccination campaign in recent weeks by going into schools and by operating pop-up clinics around the province. Merriman pointed to the success of those, but also noted more can be done.

“We’re going to continue to look at spots in the province that have not got fully vaccinated or have low uptake,” he said.

“We’re going to go in and work with those community leaders and make sure they have the opportunity to express to their communities — whether it’s locally within one of the major cities or in the far north — to make sure that they understand the importance of getting vaccines.”

Everyone aged 12 and over now is eligible to get a first dose. As of Thursday, everyone 12 and up also is eligible for a second shot, provided 28 days have passed since they got their first shot.

According to the Saskatchewan Health Authority, the weekly arrival of vaccine shipments should allow everyone in the province who wants a second shot to get one by mid-July.

There currently are more than 47,000 vaccination appointments available through the SHA. That doesn’t include shots that can be given at drive-thru, walk-in or pop-up clinics or those that can be arranged through pharmacies.

The province already has announced Step Three of its Re-Opening Roadmap will begin July 11. That’s also the day the remaining public health measures — including mandatory mask use and limits on gathering sizes — will be lifted.

The government made that latter call on the weekend even though it hadn’t reached its target of having 70 per cent of those 12 and over vaccinated.

“We did hit our marks on all of our (other) reopening (targets),” Merriman said, “and we decided to move that one because we were so close, we wanted to be able to make sure that we could get everything lined up on July 11.”

Dr. Saqib Shahab, Saskatchewan’s chief medical health officer, said the lower case numbers in the province of late are proof the vaccination campaign is working. However, he pointed out things can still be safer if more people get their second shots before July 11.

The number of cases of the Delta variant of concern have increased nearly twofold in the past week — it’s now at 125, including 73 in Regina and 25 in Saskatoon — but Shahab stressed that variant can be managed.

“It is important to recognize that even the Delta variant is covered well with two doses of the vaccine,” Shahab said, “so that is why it’s critical that we don’t delay in getting our first dose as well as a second dose.”