More health workers added to Phase 1 COVID vaccine plan, health measures extended

Many people were hoping for some relief from the Public Health Measures the province has been under for months, but that relief didn’t come Tuesday when the premier announced an extension to mid-March.

Current Public Health orders will stay in effect until March 19, 2021.

Defending the move, Premier Scott Moe said he knows the rules aren’t perfect.

“And I hear about it often, from family and friends and from others across the province,” said Moe.

But the premier does say the province is in the final stretch.

“There is some hope on the way. I have spoken often to the opportunity to expand, potentially, our household gatherings, our household bubbles, at some point in time. I don’t think we’re quite there yet today,” said Moe.

The province’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab explained that transmission can happen very quickly in a household setting.

“And that can negate all the ground we’ve covered,” said Shahab.

The COVID-19 numbers are on a downward trend in Saskatchewan, but Shahab said that can change quickly so the people of the province have to stay the course.

Moe said Shahab might able to look at the ban on household gatherings soon if the new keep going down.

Moe continues to look to the vaccine as the light at the end of the tunnel, repeating his mantra that vaccines are how things are going to get back to normal.

The premier said the province has given out about 50,000 doses to this point, and are expecting to get up to 80,000 by the end of the month. By the end of March, Moe said the province is expecting about 190,000 doses, and then in April, hoping for things to ramp up to about 5,000 doses per day.

More healthcare workers are a priority

Following up on a promise last week to have another look at the situation, the provincial government has added more healthcare worker groups to the list of those with priority access to the COVID-19 vaccine in phase 1.

Moe said most of the additions are those with a high likelihood of coming into contact with the virus and those who will be involved with the vaccination teams. He asked, if there are people who would be in a priority group but who won’t be helping with vaccinations, that they don’t take advantage of their priority status to get a shot.

This will include:

Individuals directly involved in delivering COVID-19 immunizations in Phase 2 including physicians (up to 2,600), pharmacists (up to 1,200) and other SHA
health care providers involved in delivering COVID-19 immunizations;
Anesthesia/operating rooms;
All other critical care areas;
Hemodialysis;
Vaccination teams;
Radiology technicians;
ECG/echo;
Phlebotomy/lab workers handling COVID-19 specimens; and
Home care (direct care providers)

The Ministry of Health says this will add 11,500 people to the Phase 1 priority sequencing, and put about 60 per cent of Saskatchewan’s healthcare workers into priority grouping. There will now be about 200,000 people eligible for a vaccine in Phase 1.

The health care workers in the initial Phase 1 plan include health care workers in emergency departments, intensive care units, COVID-19 wards and COVID testing and assessment staff.

The other people in Phase 1 include long-term care and personal care home residents and staff, people 70 and older in all communities and people over the age of 50 living in remote northern communities.

Moe said the second phase could be delayed because of the addition but only minimally. Phase 2 will focus on the general population in 10-year increments, starting with those aged 60 to 69.

The province says Phase 2 will continue to provide targeted access for adults and staff in group homes for those with intellectual disabilities and shelters, as well as adults deemed as clinically vulnerable.

Public Health Measures extended

The Ministry of Health says the current public health order will stay in effect until March 19, 2021.

Public health officials will continue to monitor COVID-19 transmission trends throughout this period.

Enforcement of Public Health Measures continues

The week of February 8, Specklebelly’s Brew Pub in Saskatoon was fined $14,000 for failing to abide by the public health orders.

The province says 18 locations were inspected in Regina and Saskatoon on Sunday, February 7, but public health did not see any breaches of the public health order that warranted enforcement.