AstraZeneca vaccine uptake slow at Saskatoon Tribal Council clinic

The Saskatoon Tribal Council will be administering 2,000 extra AstraZeneca-Oxford doses at the Indigenous-led immunization site at SaskTel Centre this week.

This initiative is a collaboration between the council and Indigenous Services Canada to accept walk-ins for the vaccine from today until Saturday.

The program, however, has been off to a slow start with not a lot of people showing up to be vaccinated on the first day.

"We've been pretty slow," said Tribal Chief Mark Arcand. "We've had about ... 25 people in regards to walk-ins for AstraZeneca for 40-plus."

The AstraZeneca vaccine will be given to the first 330 walk-ins each day.

Following the expansion of eligibility announced last week, teachers, police officers, fire fighters, correctional workers and probation officers are also being encouraged to go get vaccinated. 

Arcand says the council is committed to finding new ways to spread the word about the opportunity but he's hopeful more people will show up given STC's current vaccine track record.

"We've already done 4,065 doses of Pfizer and we have Pfizer going on our booked appointments which are 200 per day," he said. 

Arcand says the council is also open to the possibility of extending the timeline for the vaccination opportunity if it is approved by Indigenous Services Canada and Saskatchewan Health Authority.

Walk-ins for the vaccine are available from 9 a.m. to 3:50 p.m. CST daily until Friday.