The province of Saskatchewan reported a record day in administering COVID-19 vaccinations on Thursday.
Health minister Paul Merriman reported at Thursday's COVID-19 media update that nearly 25,000 shots, representing more than two percent of Saskatchewan鈥檚 population, were administered.
In his update, held virtually on Microsoft Teams, Merriman reported they had surpassed one million shots going into arms of Saskatchewan residents that week.
The province remains stuck, however, just shy of the benchmark of 70 percent of first doses administered to those age of 12 and over. Merriman said he expects to go over the 70 percent mark within the next three or four days.
32 percent have now gotten their second shot. As of June 24, everyone over the age of 12 is now eligible for the second shot, as long as four weeks have passed since your first shot.
鈥滾et鈥檚 do all of our part and finish this job so that Saskatchewan completely can be open in July and we can be fully protected.鈥�
Merriman half of said it was very clear that the vaccines were working. He reported that Wednesday was the lowest day for new cases, 32, since Oct. 18, 2020. The seven day average has also fallen to 55, its lowest level since Oct. 26.
He acknowledged COVID-19 has not gone away and the vast majority were not vaccinated. Merriman urged people to get vaccinated and there was no reason to wait.
Merriman did acknowledge the slight delay this week in their Pfizer shipment, so some of the Pfizer clinics had to switch to Moderna.
鈥淏ut that鈥檚 okay. No matter what vaccine you got for your first shot you can either get Pfizer or Moderna on your second shot. They are equally effective.鈥�
Saskatchewan Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab was pleased with the trends seen.
He reported that case numbers are below five per 100,000, test positives are below five percent.
鈥淚 think we absolutely need to see these case numbers remain low and trending lower as we reopen on July 11.鈥�
Dr. Shahab also stressed the importance of staying the course and for people getting their first and second doses 鈥渁s quickly as we can鈥�.
鈥淭he higher our uptake is, the better the fall will have in terms of COVID.鈥�
