(Canadian Press)

By Jeff D’Andrea

Vaccine appointments

SHA changes COVID vaccination appointment strategy after concern from public

Feb 25, 2021 | 5:09 PM

After confusion and frustration in recent weeks regarding how the public will be informed about COVID-19 vaccines and when, Saskatchewan Health Authority CEO Scott Livingstone came to Thursday’s press conference to clear up a few things.

Livingstone acknowledged that Saskatchewan seniors in the 70-plus group have been concerned about not receiving calls to arrange their appointment when vaccination clinics have been in their area.

As Saskatchewan Health Minister Paul Merriman said on Wednesday in a release, the government was originally using contact lists through eHealth to contact those eligible for a vaccine.

But that plan left those in the 70-plus group that wanted a vaccine with only one recourse to get one—wait for a phone call.

“The lists that are being used are raising concerns for individuals because they haven’t received a call when a vaccine clinic originates in their community,” Livingstone said.

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To combat this, Livingstone said the province will start to use their appointment system they’ve been developing for Phase 2 sooner, where mass vaccinations across Saskatchewan will take place for the general public. That way, those in the 70+ group can either call or make an appointment online to get their names on the waiting lists, instead of just waiting for a call from the province.

“We’ve made a decision actually this week, to use the system earlier so we can reduce some of the anxiety in the 70+ group so they can make sure they can book their own appointments online or through the telephone,” Livingstone said. “Even though we’re calling individuals, we’re demo-ing the system. We’re using the scheduling system to see how it works, preparing ourselves for the mass vaccinations and expanding it now to 70+.”

The messaging Livingstone gave was in contrast to what other members of the government have had. On Wednesday, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe asked those to be patient and to wait for the phone calls.

“I’m asking people in the province just to be a little bit patient. You will be contacted when we get to the end of March (or) early April if you haven’t been,” Moe said.

Livingstone also detailed other reasons why people aren’t getting calls. The biggest one is that vaccine supplies are still quite low in the province and the rest of Canada, so the province only has so many shots to administer in the first place. Another is the province is still in Phase 1, and prioritizing long-term and personal care homes and high priority health workers first, before giving vaccines to the 70-plus populations.