Albertans, Manitobans getting COVID-19 vaccinations in Saskatchewan

You don’t have to live in Saskatchewan to get yourself a COVID-19 vaccination in this province, which was surprising news to Robin Haubrich.

She lives in Alberta and has an Alberta health card, but she’s been staying in Saskatchewan for the last several months.

On Thursday, she heard that people who live out of province could be vaccinated in Saskatchewan, so she contacted the Saskatchewan Health Authority.

“We phoned and confirmed … if they were vaccinating out-of-province people and they were. So I went to a walk-in clinic and got vaccinated at 7:30 at a clinic. There was no lineup in Swift Current,” she said.

She wasn’t the only person from out of the province to get the vaccine that night. Health-care workers, she says, told her 11 other Albertans and one person from Manitoba also got their first vaccine shots that same day.

Haubrich was surprised to learn the vaccines are available for people who don’t live in Saskatchewan.

“(I) just thought that vaccinations were going to stay in provinces and (you) had to be vaccinated with people from in province. But at the walk-in clinic, they were looking for people to come in. They didn’t have a lineup to get their vaccinations as well. So they opened it up and that was good,” she said.

According to the provincial health ministry, “both immunization and the booking systems will be available for any Canadian citizen. Foreign nationals visiting Saskatchewan may be immunized, but may only book their appointment over the phone.”

The booking system is available to anyone with internet access, including people who live in border communities and people who don’t have a Saskatchewan health card. If someone from another province wants a vaccine here, they have to have a health card from their home province. They can go to drive-thrus or other mass immunization sites and walk-in clinics.

While it’s not mentioned in health ministry documents, the SHA says people should be here for two weeks before they can get a vaccination.

“The organization’s policy is that we would deliver the first doses of any COVID vaccine to an out-of-province resident if they have resided or been in the province for two weeks,” the authority said. “The SHA follows vaccination guidelines as per The Canada Health Act.”

The only exception to vaccinations for people who live out-of-province is getting vaccines in pharmacies. Vaccinations in pharmacies are limited to Saskatchewan residents with a valid health card only.

Haubrich, though, is thankful she got the vaccine.

“They took me in right away,” she said. “(It was a) very simple process and I showed my health care card got in right away.”