Moe says unvaccinated will find things ‘more uncomfortable’ in Sask.

Premier Scott Moe issued a warning Monday to residents of the province who aren’t vaccinated against COVID-19.

“It’s going to be increasingly more uncomfortable for you in Saskatchewan to make the choice to not be vaccinated,” Moe said during a media conference.

“There’s going to be events that you’re not going to either be able to attend or you’re not going to be able to attend without a recent negative test. To date, we’ve had none of that.”

Moe and Dr. Saqib Shahab — Saskatchewan’s chief medical health officer — provided their first COVID update since July 7, a reflection of increasing case numbers and hospitalizations in the province.

Despite the rising numbers, Moe said his government would not be returning to public health measures like mandatory masking or limits on gathering sizes. Instead, the focus remains on getting doses of COVID vaccine into more arms.

“We’re not going back to the widespread public health orders and restrictions that we once had in place,” Moe said. “That would be grossly unfair to the vast majority of Saskatchewan residents who have made the right decision and who have gone out and got themselves vaccinated.

“But we do need to do more to encourage yet again more people to get vaccinated.”

As of Monday, nearly 695,000 people were fully vaccinated in the province. Shahab noted the vast majority of new cases and hospitalizations in the province are unvaccinated people, something he said was “very disheartening” for health-care providers.

Scott Livingstone, the CEO of the Saskatchewan Health Authority, said intensive care units in the province aren’t at capacity yet, but the SHA may have to activate more beds in areas like Regina and Saskatoon if the virus keeps spreading.

“Getting vaccinated is a personal choice, yes, and it will remain a personal choice, but you need to understand that that choice does have impacts on others,” Moe said.

“The choice to not get vaccinated means that you are more likely to contract COVID and you are also more likely to pass it on to someone near you and it is once again starting to put increased pressure on our health-care system.”

The government also is ready to stand alongside organizations that are requiring proof of vaccination or proof of a negative test — something the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders did Monday.

Moe said the government supports the Roughriders’ decision and will work with every organization or venue that wants to follow suit.

Other provincial governments have mandated the use of vaccine passports, but that won’t be the case in Saskatchewan.

“We’re going to work collaboratively alongside (organizations) to support them in enacting these policies rather than the heavy hand of government telling people exactly what will and won’t happen,” Moe said. “We expect the success to be very similar to any success that has been implemented or enforced in other provinces.”

The provincial government also plans to approach the unions that represent health-care workers to require proof of vaccination or proof of a negative test. To Moe, it’s one more example of making things difficult for those who aren’t vaccinated.

“If you want to attend a Rider game and you’re not vaccinated, you’re going to have to go out and get tested,” Moe said. “If you work in front-facing health care and you have made the choice not to be vaccinated, you’re likely going to have repeated tests in order for you to arrive and work actively with people that are very ill in our health-care centres.”

Residents can get their vaccination records via their MySaskHealthRecord account. The government also is working on putting the information into a QR code that can be scanned.

That’s expected to be ready by mid-September.

COVID booster shots

The province also announced it will be offering vaccination boosters to immunocompromised residents starting Sept. 7.

Those eligible to receive booster shots in the first phase include residents of long-term care and personal care homes, transplant recipients (including solid organ transplant and hematopoietic stem cell transplants), recipients of chemotherapy and other treatments for malignant hematologic disorders, and recipients of an anti-CD20 agent.

Other eligible immunocompromised groups are to be announced soon.