COVID-19 vaccines will start being delivered Tuesday night.
The province says the first doses have arrived in Saskatchewan meaning 1,950 healthcare workers in ICU’s, Emergency Room departments and COVID units at both the General and Pasqua along with staff at testing and assessment centres can be vaccinated over the next number of days with pilot recipients getting their second dose 21 days after getting the first one,
“Today is an incredibly exciting day in our fight against COVID-19, as nearly 2,000 people who have been on the front-lines delivering care since the beginning of the pandemic start being immunized with their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine,” Premier Scott Moe said in a release. “As the first health care workers in Saskatchewan receive the vaccine, I encourage all Saskatchewan residents to get vaccinated, when the vaccine is made available to them.”
One of the first health care workers to get the vaccine will be Dr. Jeffrey Betcher.
“I have seen the devastating effects of COVID-19 on the patients I have cared for in the intensive care unit, as well as its effects on their families,” Betcher, who is a critical care physician said. “Accepting the vaccine is part of my responsibility as a physician. It will protect me, my patients, my colleagues, friends and family.”
Phase 1 of the Vaccine Delivery Plan focuses on immunizing priority populations who are at a higher risk of exposure to the virus as well as those more at risk of serious illness, and will begin later this month. The Ministry of Health will work with the Saskatchewan Health Authority, Athabasca Health Authority, and First Nations Jurisdictions to deliver the COVID-19 vaccine to priority populations.
Officials are planning for the logistics of transporting, storing and distributing the vaccine as it becomes available. The second phase of the Vaccine Delivery Plan is anticipated to begin in April, 2021 and will continue priority population immunization while providing widespread vaccine access to immunize the general population.
