Saskatchewan continues to march steadily towards achieving the benchmark of first dose vaccinations required to bring Step 3 of the government’s Re-Opening Road Map into effect at its earliest, possible date. Following Sunday’s 8,039 immunizations, bringing the provincial total to 725,648 doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered, 66 per cent of adults aged 18-and-over have received their first dose. Should that percentage hit 70 per cent before Step 2 of the Re-Opening Road Map come into effect on June 20, Step 3 could be installed as early as July 11.

Meanwhile, second doses are moving along with the province expanding the age eligibility to 50-and-over for all residents in the Northern Saskatchewan Administration District. For the rest of the province, anyone aged 70-and-over, who received their first dose before March 15th, can now book their appointment for a second shot.

Otherwise, a senior aged 80-and-over from the Saskatoon zone was reported as having passed away as a result of a positive case of he novel coronavirus. Monday’s update from the Ministry of Health included 113 new cases of COVID-19, along with 174 recoveries, leaving 1,368 active cases of the virus in Saskatchewan. There are 108 people with COVID-19 in hospital in the province, the lowest number since November 28, 2020. Of the 108 hospitalized patients, 25 are receiving treatment in an I-C-U.

An additional 8,039 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 725,648.

The 8,039 doses of COVID-19 vaccine reported today were administered to residents living in the following zones: Far North West, 25; Far North Central, 34; Far North East, 37; North West, 497; North Central, 507; North East, 112; Saskatoon, 2,650; Central West, 263; Central East, 229; Regina, 2,779; South West, 183; South Central, 140; and South East, 475. There were 108 doses administered with zone of residence pending.

Seventy-seven per cent of those over the age of 40 have received their first dose.  Seventy-one per cent of those 30+ have received their first dose.  Sixty-six per cent of those 18+ have received their first dose.

Status of Population Vaccinations, as of May 30, 2021
Group	Estimated Population	Received First Dose	Fully Vaccinated
Age 80+	51,307	46,455 (91%)	31,667 (62%)
Age 70-79	79,818	70,735 (89%)	14,535 (18%)
Age 60-69	138,471	115,212 (83%)	7,884 (6%)
Age 50-59	147,466	106,115 (72%)	8,775 (6%)
Age 40-49	151,896	98,891 (65%)	7,525 (5%)
Age 30-39	183,246	97,829 (53%)	7,406 (4%)
Age 18-29	189,909	83,632 (44%)	5,314 (3%)
Age 12-17	90,987	23,490 (26%)	109 (0%)

Note: Age is calculated on the date of the most recent dose.  Someone age 69 at their first dose and 70 at their second will now be counted in the 70-79 group for both doses, resulting in a decrease in the 60-69 first dose number.

All vaccine administration details for the province, including first and second doses, can be found at https://dashboard.saskatchewan.ca/health-wellness.

Advancing Second Dose Eligibility for Northern Residents

Effective immediately, all residents age 50+ in the Northern Saskatchewan Administration District are eligible to receive their second dose COVID-19 vaccinations.  They can receive their second dose as soon as permitted by the product monograph for the vaccine type they received.  For Moderna, this is 28 days from the first dose and for Pfizer 21 days from the first dose.  Note that all vaccines approved in Canada are safe and effective to receive up to four months after the initial dose.

Second Dose Booking Available for those Vaccinated on or before March 15

Second dose vaccinations are open to residents 70+ or anyone who received their first dose before March 15, 2021.  Individuals diagnosed with or being treated for cancer and those who have received solid organ transplants will receive a letter of eligibility in the mail that will allow them priority access to a second dose.

Eligibility to book for second doses is based on age or date of first dose. Residents who meet at least one of these criteria are eligible for their second dose.  The following table is a tentative guideline for those who received Pfizer or Moderna for their first dose; timelines may change due to vaccine availability:

Eligibility for 2nd Dose of COVID-19 Vaccine
Age	OR	1st Dose Date  (on or before)	Eligible for 2nd Dose  (on or after)
70+	OR	March 15	May 29
65+	OR	March 22	June 7
55+	OR	April 7	June 14
45+	OR	April 15	June 21
Eligibility determined by date of first dose only		May 1	June 28
		May 15	July 5
		May 30	July 12
		June 14	July 19
		June 28	July 26

At this time AstraZeneca is only available for second doses for individuals who received AstraZeneca for their first dose and who are over the age of 85 or cancer patients, solid organ transplant patients, or patients receiving treatment with Rituximab and Ocrelizumab, who received a letter.  These individuals will be contacted for an appointment.

Guidance on the administration of AstraZeneca second doses for the general population will be provided prior to the recommended 12-week interval between doses, which begins the second week of June.

Second dose vaccination appointments can be booked through the Saskatchewan Health Authority online at www.saskatchewan.ca/COVID19 or by calling 1-833-SaskVax (1-833-727-5829).

A map of participating pharmacies across the province is available at www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-pharmacies.  This online tool includes links to pharmacy booking websites and provides details on the vaccine brand being offered at each location.

For street addresses and hours of operation for drive-thru and walk-in clinics, see www.saskatchewan.ca/drive-thru-vax.

Please do not call until you are eligible to book your vaccination appointment.  If you do not know the date of your first dose or have misplaced the wallet card provided at the time of your first dose, 1-833-SaskVax can provide you with that date, or check your Immunization History on your MySaskHealthRecord account.

There may be clinic options outside your community and residents are encouraged to consider those alternate locations for immunization.  Additional stops should be avoided if possible when travelling to another community for an appointment.  More clinics will be added as new vaccine shipments are received.

During your second-dose appointment, the clinic or pharmacy will validate the timing and brand of your first dose to ensure you are receiving your second dose within the recommended timeframe.  The type of vaccine available at each location will be advertised to ensure that you are receiving the same vaccine brand for your second dose.

Additional information on how to book your appointment is available at www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-vaccine-booking.

Daily COVID-19 Statistics

There are 113 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan on May 31, bringing the provincial total to 46,748 cases.

One new death is reported today in the 80+ age group from the Saskatoon zone.

The new cases are located in the following zones: Far North West, 6; North West, 10; North Central, 9; North East, 1; Saskatoon, 24; Central East, 8; Regina, 24; South West, 5; South Central, 15; and South East, 9.  Two new cases are pending residence information. Two cases with pending residence information have been assigned to the North Central zone.

Recoveries total 44,841 and 1,368 cases are considered active.

There are 108 people in hospital, the lowest total in hospital since November 28, 2020. Eighty-three people are receiving inpatient care: North West, 5; North Central, 5; North East, 2; Saskatoon, 32; Central East, 3; Regina, 32; South West, 2; South Central, 1; and South East, 1.  Twenty-five people are in intensive care: North West, 1; North Central, 4; Saskatoon, 11; Central East, 1; and Regina, 8.

The seven-day average of new COVID-19 case number is 138 (11.3 per 100,000).  A chart comparing today’s average to data collected over the past few months is available at https://dashboard.saskatchewan.ca/health-wellness/covid-19/seven-day-average-of-new-covid-cases.

There were 1,748 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on May 30, 2021.

To date, 861,286 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan.  As of May 29, 2021, when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 725,060 tests performed per million population.  The national rate was 913,489.

As of May 30, 10,732 variants of concern have been identified by screening in Saskatchewan, reported in the following zones: Far North West, 243; Far North East, 46; North West, 607; North Central, 471; North East, 58; Saskatoon, 1,695; Central West, 109; Central East, 594; Regina, 4,646; South West, 373; South Central, 750; and South East, 1,074.  There are 66 screened VOCs with residence pending.

There are no new lineage results reported today. Of the 5,713 VOCs with lineages identified by whole genome sequencing in Saskatchewan, 5,529 are B.1.1.1.7 (UK), 144 are P.1 (Brazilian), 30 are B.1.617 (Indian) and 10 are B.1.351 (SA).

Confirmed variant of concern cases may appear in both columns on the website, depending on testing for that case.  Adding the cases identified by screening and those that have received whole genome sequencing may result in double-counting individual cases.

Further statistics on the total number of cases among health care workers, breakdowns of total cases by source of infection, age, sex and region, total tests to date, per capita testing rate and current numbers of confirmed variants of concern can be found at http://www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-cases.

Step One of Saskatchewan’s Re-Opening Roadmap is Now Underway

Thanks to the rapid expansion and delivery of COVID-19 vaccine and the patient and cautious following of public health measures by the public, the province was able to move forward with Step One of Saskatchewan’s Re-Opening Roadmap.  Public health orders have been updated and details on the Re-Opening Roadmap can be viewed at https://www.saskatchewan.ca/government/health-care-administration-and-provider-resources/treatment-procedures-and-guidelines/emerging-public-health-issues/2019-novel-coronavirus/saskatchewans-re-opening-roadmap.

While the restrictions being lifted are no longer mandatory, many are still recommended.  Only increase your contact with others as much as you feel comfortable.  Older persons and those with increased risk factors may wish to wait until two weeks after receiving a second dose before attending gatherings.  Transmission is generally less likely outdoors than indoors.

Step Two of Saskatchewan’s Re-Opening Roadmap is tentatively scheduled to begin on June 20.  If we continue to remain diligent and observe public health measures, we will reach our goal of re-opening our province in the coming weeks.