Premier Scott Moe says the option of Saskatchewan procuring its own batch of vaccinations is not off the table.
On Thursday, Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister announced the purchase of two million doses of a vaccine being developed by Providence Therapeutics, based in Alberta. Moe says the province will consider this option with the understanding that there has already been a significant investment in domestic vaccine production at Saskatoon’s VIDO. He says this investment with the Federal government has gone towards the construction of a vaccine production facility, which is being constructed as quickly as possible. Moe notes that VIDO has entered into their human trails and this could lead to VIDO having their own vaccine sometime in the New Year, possibly at a similar time to the Providence vaccine.
The Premier says VIDO currently has two applications in to the Federal government. One to fund phase 3 of their vaccination development and secondly a application to become Canada’s centre of pandemic research.
Concerns Over Vaccination Sequencing
The Premier says he has heard concerns over the phase 2 vaccination sequencing introduced earlier this week.
Moe says he’s heard concerns from healthcare workers about not being apart of phase 2, but suggests public health officials are currently working on revisions that could add additional categories of healthcare workers to phase 1. Moe reports there are other groups that have come forward to advocate they should be vaccinated sooner. He understands why people might feel that way, suggesting if the province had more vaccinations available from the Federal government, we would be able to look at getting everyone vaccinated a lot more quickly then we have so far. Moe says the reality of the situation is we are dealing with a very scarce supply of vaccines in Saskatchewan and across Canada.
Moe suggests sequencing by age is the best way to vaccinate as many people as possible, as quickly as possible. He says the stark reality of the situation is elderly people tend to have more serious outcomes from COVID-19.
The Premier hopes by the middle of March the province will see up to 4,000 vaccinations per day and 7,000 by the middle of April.
Premier Urges People Not to Jump Ahead
