The province’s daily COVID-19 update includes 52 new cases of the virus, another 54 people have recovered and two people have died. One individual was in the sixties and from the Northwest zone and the other was in their seventies and from the North Central zone. There are 72 people in the hospital with 12 in intensive care. The province says the declining hospitalization numbers are a significant indicator that the vaccinations are having an impact, so to reduce transmission, residents are encouraged to get both their first and second doses of the vaccine.

Vaccines Reported

An additional 8,617 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 1,136,300.

The additional 8,617 doses of COVID-19 vaccine reported today were administered to residents living in the following zones: Far North West, 56; Far North Central, 8; Far North East, 22; North West, 342; North Central, 507; North East, 144; Saskatoon, 3,498; Central West, 199; Central East, 632; Regina, 2,535; South West, 128; South Central, 136; and South East, 171.  There were 239 doses administered with zone of residence pending.

Eighty per cent of those over the age of 40+ have received their first dose.  Seventy-five per cent of those 30+ have received their first dose.  Seventy-one per cent of those 18+ have received their first dose, while seventy per cent of those 12+ have also received their first dose.

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

All Residents 12+ Eligible for Second Doses

All Saskatchewan residents 12 years and older who have received their first dose of vaccine are now be eligible to receive their second dose following a 28-day interval.

With the Delta variant circulating in Saskatchewan, it remains recommended that all residents receive second dose vaccinations as soon as you are eligible.  Remember that while one dose of COVID-19 vaccine provides good protection against transmission, two doses are required for optimal protection.  Please receive your second dose as soon as you are eligible and maintain all public health measures until at least two weeks after your second dose.

As advised by National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) on June 17, Pfizer and Moderna (mRNA) vaccines are interchangeable for second doses.  Residents who received Pfizer or Moderna as their first dose should take whichever of those two vaccines is available to them when they become eligible for their second dose.  If you received AstraZeneca as a first dose, you may also receive either Pfizer or Moderna for a second dose.  Both mRNA vaccines have been approved by Health Canada as safe and effective and allow residents to become fully vaccinated as soon as they are eligible.

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).  As the SHA is encouraging first dose vaccinations, please review clinic information carefully to ensure you are selecting the right clinic for you.

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

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.

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

Daily COVID-19 Statistics

There are 52 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan on June 29, bringing the provincial total to 48,823 cases.

The new cases are located in the following zones: Far North West, 7; Far North East, 1; North West, 12; North Central, 9; Saskatoon, 8; Central West, 2; and Regina, 13.  Two previous cases pending residence information have now been assigned to the following zones: Far North East, 1; and Regina, 1.

Two new deaths were reported today.  One death was reported in the 60 to 69 age group from the North West zone and one death was reported in the 70 to 79 age group from the North Central zone.

Recoveries total 47,791 and 464 cases are considered active.

There are 72 people in hospital. Sixty are receiving inpatient care: North West, 4; North Central, 9; Saskatoon, 28; Central West, 1; Central East, 1; Regina, 16; and South Central, 1.  Twelve are in intensive care: North West, 2; North Central, 3; Saskatoon, 5; and Regina, 2.  Declining hospitalization numbers are a significant indicator that vaccination efforts are having an impact in the province.  In order to further reduce COVID-19 transmission now and through the remainder of 2021, residents are still encouraged to get their first and second doses of the vaccine.

The seven-day average of new COVID-19 case number is 46 (3.7 per 100,000).  A chart comparing today’s average to data collected over the past several months is available at https://dashboard.saskatchewan.ca/health-wellness/covid-19/seven-day-average-of-new-covid-cases.

There were 1,425 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on June 28, 2021.

To date, 915,114 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan.  As of June 27, 2021, when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 771,007 tests performed per million population.  The national rate was 964,183.

As of June 28, 12,122 Variants of Concern have been identified by screening in Saskatchewan, reported in the following zones: Far North West, 312; Far North Central, 1; Far North East, 85; North West, 809; North Central, 628; North East, 79; Saskatoon, 2,105; Central West, 146; Central East, 650; Regina, 4,798; South West, 399; South Central, 887; and South East, 1,143.  There are 80 screened VOCs with residence pending.

There are 36 new lineage results reported for Variants of Concern today.  Of the 7,155 VOCs with lineages identified by whole genome sequencing in Saskatchewan, 6,634 are Alpha (B.1.1.7), 322 are Gamma (P.1), 189 are Delta (B.1.617.2) and 10 are Beta (B.1.351).

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.

Limit COVID Transmission in your Community – Get Tested 

Getting tested assists the monitoring of active cases in the province, particularly with variants of concern in Saskatchewan.  Even if experiencing mild symptoms, stay home and seek a COVID-19 test.  Even if you have been recently vaccinated, it can take up to three weeks for your immune system to respond from a first dose and two weeks after a second dose.  Vaccines are not a cure preventing all possible transmission and you remain at risk of contracting COVID-19 during that time.

COVID-19 testing is available to all residents.  You can still receive a referral for COVID-19 testing through HealthLine 811 or a health care provider, and drive-thru testing sites are available without a referral seven days a week in Regina, Saskatoon, Yorkton and Prince Albert.  Information on symptoms to watch for and how to get tested is available at www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-testing.

Saskatchewan’s Re-Opening Roadmap – Step Two Now Underway

Saskatchewan has now entered Step Two of re-opening, with in-person gathering limits increasing across a number of sectors and for private gatherings.  More information on the changes within Step Two of the Re-Opening Roadmap are available at www.saskatchewan.ca/re-open-roadmap.

Guidance for individual sectors has been updated and is available at www.saskatchewan.ca/re-open.

Saskatchewan’s Re-Opening Roadmap – All Public Health Measures to Be Lifted July 11

With more than 70 per cent of residents over the age of 18 having received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, the full implementation of Step 3 of the Re-Opening Roadmap will occur on Sunday, July 11.

That means that as of Sunday, July 11, all public health orders will be removed.  This includes the removal of the province-wide mandatory masking order, and the removal of limits on events and gathering sizes.