Saskatchewan NDP leader Ryan Meili is calling on the province to provide incentives to address the slowing of first dose COVID-19 vaccine numbers.
Meili says there needs to be added work and extra efforts to make that last mile, and get to herd immunity. “We see no concerted effort, as we’re seeing in other provinces, with Alberta and Manitoba coming forth with vaccine lotteries, and we’ve got other places taking other measures to move to those final steps, to get everyone vaccinated. Scott Moe is not stepping up with new action.”
Meili once again called for a “Last Mile Strategy”, one that he says will allow the province to reach re-opening goal lines and get everyone possible vaccinated. Meili says that could include a Last Mile Lottery, with a $25,000 grand prize, or tickets to Rider games for people who get vaccinated. He suggests the province needs to be doing a better job coordinating the booking of first doses and says everyone who needs to be vaccinated should be getting a phone call laying out their options.
Health critic Vicki Mowat echoed Meili’s call for a Last Mile Strategy “We want to make sure we can get back to normal as soon as possible, and a first step in doing that would be to develop a strategy to make sure that there is accessibility for the first doses of the vaccine, and additionally there are strategies to combat vaccine hesitancy across the province.”
Over the weekend Alberta’s Premier Jason Kenney announced a lottery with a combined $3-million in prizes. Manitoba has put $2-million towards vaccine related lotteries.
(CJWW)
