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The Saskatchewan Health Authority could find itself in a position where it has vaccines on hand but not enough people to take them.
There hasn’t been an unexpected arrival of new supply. Rather, it’s because the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) has recommended against giving the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to those under 55 years of age, hitting pause on shots for those groups as it studies possible links to blood clotting.
That leaves people aged 55 and older, but according to the SHA’s chief of emergency operations, there aren’t many of them who haven’t received a first dose yet.
“Saskatchewan has progressed very quickly through the age groups and that puts us in a position where we may see this saturation in terms of those that are 55 and older,” said Derek Miller.
“We may run into challenges in terms of, ‘Do we actually have enough population to use up the doses that we have?’ ”
Speaking to Gormley on Thursday, Miller said the SHA has roughly 35,000 unused doses.
Instead of leaving those vials on shelves, Miller said the health authority might start administering second doses to those who were vaccinated at the first drive-through clinic in Regina.
“Of course, we would obviously still need to abide by the 55-plus rule,” Miller said.
“Our strategy is based on getting the first dose out as broadly as possible as quickly as possible to achieve the community level of immunity.”
The Saskatchewan government has pressed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Canada’s chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, for a resolution to the question of who should be given the AstraZeneca vaccine.
An answer, Miller said, would allow the SHA to pick a direction.
“We are hopeful that they complete that soon,” he said. “Unfortunately, I don’t have any insight into when that might be.”
On Thursday, the province announced it would be shifting the Regina drive-through to the Pfizer vaccine and the eligible age group to 53 and 54 starting Friday.
Drive-through and walk-in AstraZeneca clinics for people 55 and over currently are operating in Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, Humboldt, Kindersley, Lloydminster, North Battleford, Prince Albert, Warman, Weyburn and Yorkton.
The walk-in clinic in Humboldt opened Thursday. A drive-through clinic is to open Friday in Moose Jaw (8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., 750 Lillooet St. W; access only available from Fourth Avenue SW).
Meanwhile, the eligibility for booking an appointment online or on the phone was changed Thursday to 55 and over, down from 58 and over.
Eligible groups include everyone 55 years of age and older, people 50 and over living in the Northern Saskatchewan Administration District, all remaining Phase 1 health-care workers, and people with underlying health conditions who are clinically extremely vulnerable through an eligibility letter.
Another Moderna delay
The SHA has been told there’s another delay of the next shipment of 19,300 Moderna vaccines. The delay is at the manufacturer’s end.
As a result, some appointments already booked in primarily rural and northern clinics will have to be rescheduled, but the SHA doesn’t know yet to what extent.
The authority said it will contact people next week to reschedule their appointments.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an amended version of this story. Due to incorrect information provided by the SHA, there was an error in an earlier story about the hours of the Prince Albert drive-through being extended. That clinic is to operate from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., at Thorpe’s Industry, 1 Pine Street, Highway 2 North.