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A COVID-19 vaccine is on the horizon, but it could still take some time before the average person in Saskatchewan can get it.
Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine candidates have been making progress towards approval in Canada.
During a media conference Thursday, Saskatchewan Health Minister Paul Merriman revealed that around 180,000 vaccine doses are expected to arrive in the province within the first three months of 2021.
Those are included in the initial batch of six million doses the federal government has secured for distribution around the country.
Once the doses get here, it could take a while to distribute them.
“The vaccine will be administrated on a priority basis. I expect that we will be vaccinating seniors and frontline health-care workers first,” Merriman explained.
He urged people to be patient in the meantime.
“Sask. Health and the Saskatchewan Health Authority are developing a plan to deliver the vaccine as swiftly and effectively as possible,” Merriman said.
“I look forward to the day when we have most of our province vaccinated, but that’s going to take some time. Until then, we need to follow all public health measures and guidelines that will help keep us safe, and those around us safe.
“The next few weeks will be very important, as it is pretty clear now that this pandemic will only end when we have a widespread distribution of a safe and effective vaccine.”
As of Thursday, Saskatchewan had reported 2,420 new COVID-19 cases in November. The total number of cases in the province had risen to 5,651 since March and there were 2,066 active cases being reported.
New restrictions took effect in Saskatchewan on Thursday, including mandatory mask use in all indoor public places in the province.
As well, visitation to long-term and personal care homes has been suspended for anything other than compassionate reasons and attendance at private indoor gatherings has been capped at five people.
Merriman encouraged the public to stick with all COVID safety measures, but he also shared some details on what the provincial government is working on.
Right now, the focus is on testing and contact tracing.
One of the biggest challenges in recent weeks has been contact tracing.
“The SHA continues to improve its contact tracing capacity, increasing resources from approximately 60 trained staff to approximately 400,” he explained.
Twenty of those are government staff members who have been shifted over to positions in contact monitoring. Forty more will be made available to help out with data entry and telling people they have tested negative.
Workers from Statistics Canada and the University of Saskatchewan are also helping out.
Merriman pointed out that many people who test positive have a high number of close contacts, a fact that makes contact tracing more difficult. The average person who tests positive will have 11 close contacts.
“With the higher number of cases being reported each day, contact tracing is becoming challenging, particularly in Saskatoon,” he said.
Ramping up testing is also a priority.
He pointed out the drive-through testing sites remain open in Regina, Saskatoon and Yorkton. A fourth is set to open in Prince Albert.
Rapid testing will also be available soon, which Merriman said will make asymptomatic testing in hospitals and long-term care homes easier. He claims that will raise testing capacity by up to 640 tests a day.