Here are highlights from the latest COVID-19 news conference in Regina featuring health minister Paul Merriman, Sask. Health Authority CEO Scott Livingstone, and the province鈥檚 chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab.
Merriman reports that one week into their vaccine system, things are working very well with over 66,000 Saskatchewan residents calling the toll free number or going online to book their appointments.
His main message was that as of that day, they had moved into phase two, which opens the appointment system to people under age 70. Phase 2 will eventually include everyone he said.
They will continue to keep opening appointments incrementally by descending order of age. Anyone age 67 and over can now go online and book an appointment, and they will open up to more age groups as fast as they can depending on vaccine availability. Merriman encouraged everyone to check the government website and the SHA鈥檚 website and social media feeds often, to see when they can get their booking COVID-19 update for March 18.聽
Merriman also noted that the government had enacted new regulations providing every employee up to three hours paid leave from work to get the COVID-19 shots. 鈥淭his is one way to ensure everyone gets their shot as quickly as possible.鈥�
Phase 2 also prioritized the clinically extremely vulnerable, he said, and a complete list can be found at the province鈥檚 COVID-19 website. Congregate living shelters including group homes and emergency shelters are also prioritized.
As for the provincial case count, new cases continue to decline. Merriman said the seven day average is 128 which is the lowest since Nov. 13. However, Regina continues to have a higher case numbers and more variants, and he urged everyone to be particularly cautious in Regina. He also said this is why they have increased their focus in Regina with the drive thru clinic.
In his remarks SHA CEO Livingstone said the variants of concern are more transmissible and may be more harmful, so it was 鈥渃ritical we continue our efforts to fight this virus鈥�.
He acknowledged there would be some 鈥渘atural overlap鈥� between phase one and phase two, and said going to 67 and over was just the start. He asked for patience as they managed the ongoing change and aggressive timelines of the vaccine rollout.
