Saskatchewan's Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab. (File photo/CKOM News Staff)

By Jeff D'Andrea

COVID-19 Provincial Report

180,000 new vaccines coming to Saskatchewan next year, reviewing the models

Nov 19, 2020 | 5:24 PM

According to Saskatchewan Minister of Health Paul Merriman, the province will have 180,000 vaccines in the first quarter of next year.

Canada’s federal government has secured six million vaccines, four million from Pfizer and two million from Moderna.

“Sask. Health and the SHA are developing a plan to deliver the vaccine as swiftly and effectively as possible,” Merriman said. “The vaccine will be administrated on a priority basis.”

Merriman said likely seniors and first responders would receive the vaccine early on in the process.

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During Thursday’s press conference, Saskatchewan’s Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab compared data from the beginning of the pandemic until now.

He pointed out that most of the outbreaks in the first several months of the pandemic were localized and contact tracing was more or less straightforward. But now with the high amount of cases each day with community spreading, tracing has been much more difficult.

“Now of course, we’re having transmission throughout. It’s not localized, so our transmission chains are not well-defined,” Dr. Shahab said. “It’s people going about their business. Contact tracing is very challenging. The longer we stay in this, the longer it will be to turn this around.”

Shahab also said Saskatchewan is fourth in the country in active cases per 100,000 people with 179, behind only Manitoba (539), Alberta (230), and Nunavut (181).

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW