With Saskatchewan and the rest of Canada navigating the Omicron wave of COVID-19, one thing is certain and that is Saskatchewan won’t be implementing any lockdown measures.
Premier Scott Moe says the new variant is spreading around the world regardless of the public health measures that are in place. Moe also said Monday that not implementing restrictions helps the province avoid economic and psychological harm and the infringement of personal freedoms that are caused by lockdowns. The premier urges residents to get vaccinated and to receive their booster shot.
“Being vaccinated does not help you from contracting COVID, but it should keep you from becoming seriously ill. That was certainly my personal experience, I really had little, if any symptoms at all and felt quite good throughout my COVID infection.”
About 46 per cent of the population in Saskatchewan, which is eligible for booster shots, have received their third jab. Moe suggests Saskatchewan has lower hospitalizations, lower ICU admission and lower rates of virus-related fatalities in January than provinces with stricter public health orders.
On Monday, the premier also said the new federal vaccine mandate requiring truckers crossing the international border to be fully vaxxed, is one that’s unnecessary. Moe adds the trucking industry has been able to operate safely during the pandemic before vaccines were made available.
“The federal government, the policy they put forward , mandating vaccines for truckers to go back and forth across the border is an unnecessary policy and it’s one that going to have unfortunately , potentially some significant impacts on us accessing essential services including food that we need in our communities.”
His stance is in direct contradiction to the Canadian Trucking Alliance which oversees the industry. A statement from the CTA Monday says it does not support and strongly disapproves of any protests on public roadways, highways, and bridges. CTA believes such actions – especially those that interfere with public safety – are not how disagreements with government policies should be expressed.
CTA president Stephen Laskowski says, “The Government of Canada and the United States have now made being vaccinated a requirement to cross the border. This regulation is not changing so, as an industry, we must adapt and comply with this mandate.”
