Saskatoon mayor considering vaccine passports, other measures to combat rising cases in city

Saskatoon mayor Charlie Clark is only interested in the facts.

On Tuesday, Clark took to Facebook to share a post with information on the status of COVID-19 in Saskatoon. The post came after the city posted daily case numbers in the 70s and 80s earlier in the week.

In conversations with the local medical health officer and through watching the news, Clark said it is clear Saskatoon hasn’t seen the last of COVID-19.

“The rising cases and the evidence in the wastewater data showing we have more COVID in our community than we ever have before is a real reason for concern and I’m calling on all of us … to keep the community safe,” Clark said.

The mayor is hoping for some additional measures to be put in place in preparation for the fall.

“We need to have the right measures in place so that we can know, going into whether it’s community events, sports events, businesses, restaurants have vaccine passports … so we know whether or not there’s unvaccinated people coming in and affecting the overall health and safety of these situations,” he said.

Enter vaccine passports. Clark said he’s interested in the possibility of bringing the vaccine identification documents to Saskatoon, but it will take a little bit of help.

“We really need to work with the provincial government and the federal government to have all of the health data,” he explained. “There’s no way for the city to be able to develop the vaccine passport on our own, so what I want to do is really encourage the development of these passports.”

Clark said he’s been encouraged by the results of vaccine passports in jurisdictions like Quebec, Manitoba and B.C.

“I think they’re going to be a really really important tool right now to help make it so our society can function in the fall, so we can keep this pandemic down and keep schools safe, businesses safe, restaurants safe,” Clark mused.

Issues like transit and workplace safety will be up for consideration and mandatory vaccines will be on the agenda for discussion by city council as a means of putting “provisions in place just to make sure people are safe.”

Online debate

Clark said he’s all for public discussion but draws the line at two things: disrespect and misinformation.

“There’s so much misinformation out there already and what I don’t want to have happen is to have my social media account be a platform for people to spread more misinformation,” he explained.

That’s why some comments on his recent Facebook post were hidden.

“We have applied a policy — in certain situations, we want to have an open debate, have people be able to air their opinions but not to use the mayor’s office Facebook page to spread further misinformation,” Clark said.

He continued.

“Either if it’s disrespectful or it’s (incorrect). There have been times on our social media pages where people were personally attacking other people in the community or if there’s a concern about misinformation being spread, that’s what we’re trying to do.”

Clark called it a fluid situation but expressed hope for the coming months.

“I am very hopeful that we can move towards a fall where we can enjoy a lot of what we’ve been enjoying this summer but it will require some further measures to be put in place to create more certainty.”

Saskatoon and COVID: What do the numbers mean?

“We’ve been signalling for about a couple of weeks now that we’re certainly in the fourth wave here in Saskatoon,” said Dr. Jasmine Hasselback, medical health officer for the Saskatoon area of the Saskatchewan Health Authority.

“Because COVID transmits well and the Delta transmits even better, when you’ve got some cases, it grows exponentially and that continues,” she said.

This growth has been taking place over the past couple of weeks. Hasselback said it will only continue to grow without some intervention, and will particularly spread in urban areas.

“When people come together, that’s a really great setting for the Delta to transmit,” Hasselback explained. “Susceptibility is usually stopped by a few things, most profoundly by being immunized (and) particularly two doses when we’re talking about Delta.”

Hasselback encouraged Saskatoon residents to readopt COVID protocols that have helped keep case numbers low in the past — particularly, wearing a mask or plexiglass barrier, monitoring contacts and working from home when possible.

The medical health officer also said there doesn’t seem to be any single inciting incident for the sudden rash of cases in the city, but did emphasize the Delta variant.

“In Saskatoon, we really are seeing an incredible domination of the Delta variant of concern,” she said.

“Okay” vaccine coverage in Saskatoon also has Hasselback encouraging residents to get vaccinated to help the city achieve an 80 per cent rate of vaccination.

“An ask is always a great place to start. I’ve seen in Saskatoon and the surrounding community that an ask often results in some really profound changes,” Hasselback said. “Everyone really does want to look out for each other and this is the time to do that.

“Start wearing those masks indoors again, try and keep your bubble small. If there’s anything that you’re engaging in or that you’re organizing … that involves a bit more risk, figure out a way to bring that risk down.”

She said the ask is certainly out there.

“Take a look at your life and see what sort of things might be adding risk … what kind of things might be making it easier for COVID-19 to spread?”