By the end of the week, anyone 20 and older will be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine in Saskatchewan. Premier Scott Moe says the age limit lowers to 26 on Wednesday, then 23 on Friday and 20 on Sunday. He adds that the Saskatoon drive-through will re-open on Wednesday and on Thursday in Regina.

The Premier expects they will run through Sunday and will keep operating as much as possible depending on supply. The plan is to have second doses available for everyone in the province by sometime in July.

He urges everyone to get vaccinated and suggests that gathering at a rally to have the Public Health measures removed is not the best way to get back to life as it was prior to the pandemic. Instead, the Premier says it’s getting vaccinated so the province can gradually remove the restrictions.

Chief Medical Health Officer, Dr. Saqib Shahab, says for those who received AstraZeneca for their first dose, your second shot might not be the same. He explains that the vaccine is just as safe and effective as Moderna and Pfizer, but there is not as much of it available, and data from the UK shows that Pfizer as a second dose works just as well.

Dr. Shahab says all three vaccines have proven effective in this province. Up to May 8th, 263 people who were past the three week mark of getting their vaccination, contracted the virus.
That’s out of 309,276 first doses. Shahab calls these breakthrough cases and says they are .09 per cent of all the shots given, meaning the efficacy is around 99 per cent.