Saskatchewan Reports 151 New Cases Of COVID-19, 189 Recoveries, One Death

Vaccines Reported

An additional 4,654 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 669,847.

The 4,654 doses of COVID-19 vaccine reported today were administered to residents living in the following zones: Far North West, 10; Far North East, 56; North West, 147; North Central, 82; North East, 49; Saskatoon, 1,441; Central West, 61; Central East, 245; Regina, 1,519; South West, 224; South Central, 491; and South East, 171.  There were 158 doses administered with zone of residence pending.

Seventy-six per cent of those over the age of 40 have received their first dose.  Seventy per cent of those 30+ have received their first dose.  Sixty-three per cent of those 18+ have received their first dose.

All vaccine administration details for the province, including first and second doses, can be found at https://dashboard.saskatchewan.ca/health-wellness.

This week’s shipment of 63,180 Pfizer doses is expected to arrive in Saskatchewan today.  These doses will be distributed to Saskatoon, Regina, Prince Albert, North Battleford, Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) North, ISC South, ISC North Battleford, Northern Inter-Tribal Health Authority Prince Albert and pharmacies throughout the province.

Second Dose Booking Available for those Vaccinated on or before March 1

Second dose vaccinations are underway for anyone who is 80 and older or who received their first dose before March 1.  Individuals diagnosed with or being treated for cancer and those who have received solid organ transplants will receive a letter of eligibility in the mail that will allow them priority access to a second dose.

Eligibility to book for second doses is based on age or date of first dose.  Residents who meet at least one of these criteria will be eligible for their second dose.  The following table is a tentative guideline; timelines may change due to vaccine availability:

Astra Zeneca is not included in this table as we await advice on the use of Astra Zeneca for timing of second doses.

Second dose vaccination appointments can be booked through the Saskatchewan Health Authority online at www.saskatchewan.ca/COVID19 or by calling 1-833-SaskVax (1-833-727-5829).

A map of participating pharmacies across the province is available at www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-pharmacies.  This online tool now includes links to pharmacy booking websites and provides details on the vaccine brand being offered at each location.

For street addresses and hours of operation for drive-thru and walk-in clinics, see www.saskatchewan.ca/drive-thru-vax.

Please do not call until you are eligible to book your vaccination appointment.  If you do not know the date of your first dose or have misplaced the wallet card provided at the time of your first dose, 1-833-SaskVax can provide you with that date, or check your Immunization History on your MySaskHealthRecord account.

There may be clinic options outside your community and residents are encouraged to consider those alternate locations for immunization.  Additional stops should be avoided if possible when travelling to another community for an appointment.  More clinics will be added as new vaccine shipments are received.

During your second dose appointment, the clinic or pharmacy will validate the timing and brand of your first dose to ensure you are receiving your second dose within the recommended timeframe.  The type of vaccine available at each location will be advertised to ensure that you are receiving the same vaccine brand for your second dose.

At this time, public health is planning to offer your second dose of COVID-19 vaccine to match the brand of your first dose.  National reviews of the safety and efficacy of interchanging the second dose brand are on-going and the provincial policy on maintaining the same brand for the second dose may be updated following this review.

Additional information on how to book your appointment is available at www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-vaccine-booking.

Daily COVID-19 Statistics

There are 151 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan on May 26, bringing the provincial total to 46,001 cases.  Twenty-nine cases tested out of province have been added to the following zones: Far North East, 5; North West, 3; North Central, 1; Saskatoon, 6; Central West, 1; Central East, 1; and Regina, 9; three cases are pending residence information.  One case tested at a private lab has been added to the North East zone.

One new death is reported today in the 40-49 age group from the Saskatoon zone.

The new cases are located in the following zones: Far North West, 1; Far North Central, 2; Far North East, 10; North West, 16; North Central, 8; North East, 2; Saskatoon, 51; Central West, 2; Central East, 1; Regina, 32; South West, 5; South Central, 11; and South East, 6.  Four new cases are pending residence information.  Two previously reported cases with pending residence information were added to the Far North West zone.

A detailed map of COVID-19 case locations can be found here.

Recoveries total 44,031 and 1,442 cases are considered active.

There are 133 people in hospital.  One hundred and six people are receiving inpatient care: North West, 7; North Central, 6; North East, 2; Saskatoon, 40; Central East, 4; Regina, 42; South West, 1; South Central, 2; and South East, 2.  Twenty-seven people are in intensive care: North West, 2; North Central, 3; Saskatoon, 11; Central East, 1; and Regina, 10.

The seven-day average of new COVID-19 case number is 141 (11.5 new cases per 100,000).  A chart comparing today’s average to data collected over the past few months is available at https://dashboard.saskatchewan.ca/health-wellness/covid-19/seven-day-average-of-new-covid-cases.

There were 2,162 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on May 25, 2021.

To date, 849,055 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan.  As of May 24, 2021, when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 714,332 tests performed per million population.  The national rate was 902,911.

As of May 25, 10,317 variants of concern have been identified by screening in Saskatchewan, reported in the following zones: Far North West, 236; Far North East, 36; North West, 579; North Central, 408; North East, 56; Saskatoon, 1,598; Central West, 109; Central East, 565; Regina, 4,564; South West, 351; South Central, 714; and South East, 1,037.  There are 64 screened VOCs with residence pending.

There are 75 new lineage results reported today.  Of the 5,711 VOCs with lineages identified by whole genome sequencing in Saskatchewan, 5,528 are B.1.1.1.7 (UK), 144 are P.1 (Brazilian), 29 are B.1.617 (Indian) and 10 are B.1.351 (SA).

Confirmed variant of concern cases may appear in both columns on the website, depending on testing for that case.  Adding the cases identified by screening and those that have received whole genome sequencing may result in double-counting individual cases.

Further statistics on the total number of cases among health care workers, breakdowns of total cases by source of infection, age, sex and region, total tests to date, per capita testing rate and current numbers of confirmed variants of concern can be found at http://www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-cases.

General COVID-19 Information

General public inquiries may be directed to COVID19@health.gov.sk.ca.

Know your risk.  Keep yourself and others safe: www.saskatchewan.ca/government/health-care-administration-and-provider-resources/treatment-procedures-and-guidelines/emerging-public-health-issues/2019-novel-coronavirus/about-covid-19/know-your-risk.