There were no indications of relaxing the province’s current health restriction at the Thursday afternoon COVID briefing. Premier Scott Moe and Dr. Saqib Shahab remained cautiously optimistic at the direction the new COVID numbers are taking. However, the significant improvement the province is seeking is still tied to the delivery of vaccines that have been slow in coming. 

Moe confirmed that the bulk of the promised 6 million dose, Quarter 1 shipment would likely not arrive until mid to late March. That puts the first phase of vaccinations well behind the original schedule. It also sets back the start of phase 2 vaccinations until potentially as late as June.

At one point Moe suggested that the province may follow the lead of Manitoba who made a deal yesterday afternoon to procure vaccine doses from Providence Therapeutics, the Canadian firm whose mRNA vaccine is in clinical trial. However, like the prospective VIDO-Intervac serum under development in Saskatoon, the new vaccine may not be readily available until the end of the year. 

Moe and Shahab both addressed the mechanism of making phase 2 doses available on the basis of age. In the face of groups like the Regina Police Service and the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation requesting consideration, Shahab said it simply came down to availability of the vaccine, mitigating the highest risk factor, and finding the simplest mode of vaccinating as many people as possible as quickly as possible.

“The easiest way to move quickly through is with age based criteria,” reiterated Shahab, “Because it’s easy for everyone to understand eligibility based on age, and that gets the clinics flowing at high volume.”

The presence of new variants, most notably the UK variant which has presented in three Saskatchewan residents, has Shahab maintaining that the current measures must be kept in place. Shahab wants to see levels of testing maintained to ensure accurate monitoring of case levels. 

While current active cases and new cases remain on the high side per capita in the country, Shahab was encouraged by the decline, although he suggested room for improvement with the rate. 

“Our daily new case rate is 16 per 100,000; we really want to see this below 10. Our test positivity rate is coming down, but it is still above 5 percent at 7.7 percent, so we need to see it coming down.”

The north and far north still maintains the highest case rates in the province. Many of these cases are due to echo events stemming from Christmas and holiday gatherings. Shahab cautioned Saskatchewan residents about maintaining their resolve entering the long weekend and a February school break.

“As we all prepare for Family Day Weekend away from work and school,” Shahab said, “Please remember that this is not the time to go travelling out of province or far from your home. We still can’t visit friends or family indoors. You can go outdoors to meet and greet others keeping a safe distance, but please abide by outdoor gathering rules.”

The province is still on a course for a review of the current guidelines on or before February 19.