Health Minister Paul Merriman. (File photo/Submitted)

By CJME News

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Apr 16, 2021 | 5:10 PM

Saskatchewan got some good news and some bad news about COVID-19 vaccines Friday.

The good news is that Canada is to receive eight million more doses of the Pfizer vaccine starting in May after the federal government signed a contract with that manufacturer.

The bad news is that Moderna is slashing its vaccine shipment to Canada from 1.2 million doses to 650,000.

In Saskatchewan, Moderna has been given to people outside of the major centres, so some appointments will have to be rescheduled.

“(The Moderna news) creates a multitude of challenges,” Health Minister Paul Merriman told reporters Friday after Question Period. “I feel for the people that are getting excited about their vaccine and then we have to reschedule.”

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The Saskatchewan Health Authority already has been forced to reschedule vaccination appointments due to Moderna delays. The reduced volume of its next shipment also is going to cause some issues for the SHA.

“We’ve had lots of delayed shipments (from Moderna), lots of shipments that have been split (and) lots of shipments that just didn’t come,” Merriman said. “This continually plays a huge role in all of our clinics, whether it be our mass immunization (sites), some of our drive-through clinics or the walk-in clinics.

“It’s disappointing. We’re very concerned that the vaccines we were supposed to get aren’t showing up. We plan out anywhere from 14 to sometimes 20 days where we are as far as scheduling people. (When it comes to) the frontline health-care workers, we would have to look at rescheduling shifts.

“We are going to have to look at what it is we need to do to be able to maintain getting the most vaccine into people’s arms.”

That’s where the increased Pfizer shipment could come in handy.

Merriman said health officials would assess the situation and see what vaccine is coming when. That could mean a switch from Moderna to Pfizer at some vaccination clinics in the province.

“It’s great news that they’re increasing the Pfizer,” Merriman said. “I’ll say it’s amazing news when it actually lands here and we can get it into somebody’s arm.”

Ontario comes calling

Premier Scott Moe confirmed the Saskatchewan government has received a request from Ontario asking for assistance as that province continues to report record COVID cases.

Ontario has asked for help from the other provinces and territories, both in terms of health-care workers and vaccine doses. Moe said Saskatchewan would be sending a response “in short order” — and its answer would be that it couldn’t help.

He noted health-care workers in the province are not only performing their normal duties, but also caring for people who have COVID, operating testing and vaccination clinics around the province, and working in long-term care facilities.

“We just don’t have the capacity to start even talking about loaning our health-care workers out for a period of time to other provinces,” Moe told reporters. “They’re quite busy — and rightfully so — putting the priorities of Saskatchewan residents first and foremost.”

Ontario will be getting the same answer when it comes to vaccines.

“We are not at a point in time where we’re ready to have conversations about loaning Saskatchewan’s allocation of vaccines out,” Moe said. “We want those vaccines here so that we can deliver them to Saskatchewan people as quickly as possible.”

— With files from 980 CJME’s Lisa Schick