Sask. COVID-19 Update: 179 New Cases, 141 Recoveries, One Death

An additional 12,923 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 706,548.

The 12,923 doses of COVID-19 vaccine reported today were administered to residents living in the following zones: Far North West, 205; Far North Central, 2; Far North East, 299; North West, 427; North Central, 831; North East, 489; Saskatoon, 4,387; Central West, 389; Central East, 922; Regina, 2,761; South West, 567; South Central, 482; and South East, 931.  There were 231 doses administered with zone of residence pending.

Seventy-seven per cent of those over the age of 40 have received their first dose.  Seventy-one per cent of those 30+ have received their first dose.  Sixty-five 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.

Saskatchewan has received a confirmed Moderna allocation for the weeks of May 31 (12,400 doses) and June 7 (3,000 doses).

Second Dose Booking Available for those Vaccinated on or before March 15

As of today, second dose vaccinations are open to residents 70+ or anyone who received their first dose before March 15, 2021.  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:

AstraZeneca Second Doses

At this time AstraZeneca is only available for second doses for individuals who received AstraZeneca for their first dose and who are over the age of 85 or cancer patients, solid organ transplant patients, or patients receiving treatment with Rituximab and Ocrelizumab, who received a letter.  These individuals will be contacted for an appointment.  Guidance on the administration of AstraZeneca second doses for the general population will be provided prior to the recommended 12-week interval between doses, which begins the second week of June.

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 179 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan on May 29, bringing the provincial total to 46,464 cases. Saskatchewan’s COVID-19 Dashboard is here.

One new death is reported today in the 50-59 age group from the Regina zone.

The new cases are located in the following zones: Far North West, 5; Far North East, 5; North West, 21; North Central, 18; North East, 5; Saskatoon, 38; Central West, 2; Central East, 10; Regina, 27; South West, 11; South Central, 19; and South East, 18. Two cases with pending residence information have been assigned to the following zones: North Central, 1; and Regina, 1. One case not previously reported has been added to the Regina zone, and one case from the Regina zone was a duplicate and it was removed.

Recoveries total 44,519 and 1,408 cases are considered active.

There are 113 people in hospital, the lowest total in hospital since November 28, 2020.  Eighty-nine people are receiving inpatient care: North West, 6; North Central, 6; North East, 2; Saskatoon, 36; Central East, 3; Regina, 32; South West, 1; South Central, 2; and South East, 1.  Twenty-four people are in intensive care: North West, 2; North Central, 4; Saskatoon, 9; Central East, 1; and Regina, 8.

The seven-day average of new COVID-19 case number is 129 (10.5 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 2,933 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on May 28, 2021.

To date, 857,297 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan.  As of May 26, 2021, when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 718,375 tests performed per million population.  The national rate was 906,442.

As of May 28, 10,546 variants of concern have been identified by screening in Saskatchewan, reported in the following zones: Far North West, 238; Far North East, 39; North West, 589; North Central, 449; North East, 57; Saskatoon, 1,630; Central West, 109; Central East, 587; Regina, 4,616; South West, 365; South Central, 739; and South East, 1,060.  There are 68 screened VOCs with residence pending.

There are no new lineage results reported today.  Of the 5,713 VOCs with lineages identified by whole genome sequencing in Saskatchewan, 5,529 are B.1.1.1.7 (UK), 144 are P.1 (Brazilian), 30 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.

(Photo credit: Saskatchewan Government/Saskatchewan Government News Release)