Sask. expecting nearly 180,000 vaccine doses in next 2 weeks, roughly equaling number of shots already given

Saskatchewan's plan to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine may have been curtailed and the province may be facing a delay in the shipment of Moderna vaccines, but Premier Scott Moe had some good vaccine news to share on Tuesday.

"Over the course of the next two weeks, we are expecting almost 180,000 doses to be delivered in Saskatchewan," he said.

If achieved — and the province has been let down in the past by shipment projections — that figure would nearly equal the number of shots administered in the province since mid-December: 184,000.

"Our vaccination rate has slowed down just a little bit this week," Moe said, citing the recent AstraZeneca and Moderna setbacks, "but it's going to pick up again and it's going to pick up again very quickly."

More drive-thrus will open in the province, Moe said. 

Beginning on Wednesday, anyone aged 60 and over will be able to book a vaccine appointment. 

"That's down two more years from where we are currently, at 62 years. So that's thousands more Saskatchewan residents who can book their first dose," Moe said. 

Moe also shed light on one aspect of the province's fluid vaccine delivery strategy.

He said "a substantial amount" of vaccines will be sent to areas with variants of concern, such as Regina, Moose Jaw, Weyburn and Yorkton.

Here's how Saskatchewan's first 184,000 doses have been distributed across the province:

AstraZeneca still safe to take: top doc

Moe, alongside Dr. Saqib Shahab, Saskatchewan's chief medical health officer, also addressed the province's decision to pause the inoculation of people under the age of 55 with the AstraZeneca vaccine following the recommendation of Canada's National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI).

NACI recommended the change Monday following reports out of Europe of very rare instances of blood clots in some immunized patients, though no such reports have been found in Canada, Shahab said on Tuesday.

Saskatchewan had vaccinated people aged 58 and up with the vaccine until early last week.

"I have no doubt that AstraZeneca is protecting people in their 60s in the city of Regina who are at high risk of COVID because of the surge," Shahab said. "All vaccines, including AstraZeneca, remain very safe."

Shahab nevertheless asked people who have received the AstraZeneca virus in the last 20 days to monitor themselves for symptoms such as shortness of breath, abdominal pain, headaches, blurred vision or skin bruising.  

Should people develop symptoms, "investigations will be done to understand the cause of these rare events," Shahab said. "In many cases, they are not due to the vaccine. But that is just an additional caution for people."

The AstraZeneca vaccine, which will continue to be offered to people 55 and older, forms only a small portion of Saskatchewan's vaccine supply.

"The bulk of the vaccination program is going to be Pfizer and Moderna," Shahab said. 

Moe said the pausing of AstraZeneca vaccinations for younger people will not affect the administration of the just under 180,000 doses expected in the coming weeks.