And for the first month of COVID-19 vaccine rollout in the province, that’s exactly the situation Moose Jaw and the South Central region of Saskatchewan found itself in -- when your region has one of the lowest caseloads in the province, other areas are going to be taken care of much sooner.
This week, that all changed.
The first doses of the Pfizer BioNtech vaccine were delivered to front-line healthcare workers as well as seniors homes in Moose Jaw -- including Providence Place and Pioneer Lodge -- midweek, with Chez Nous the final senior care home in the city to receive doses on Saturday afternoon.
All told, it’s expected close to 700 doses will have been delivered by the end of the weekend.
The distribution itself has been similar to past immunization campaigns, including the annual flu shots delivered throughout the province. As a result, it’s just been a matter of following the same pattern and procedures as other vaccines, just with heightened safety protocols.
The South Central region is the second last region to receive the vaccine, with only the South West left with zero vaccines as of Feb. 19.
As mentioned, the reasoning is valid: with supply issues slowing both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine rollouts in the province, priorities were given to regions much harder hit by COVID. As an example, Saskatoon and its 7,099 cases have already received 6,931 first doses and 4,793 second doses for a total of 11,724.
The North Central region, which includes Prince Albert, has seen 3,162 cases in total, and was also an early priority for vaccines, receiving their first doses back in December. They’ve now received 8,724, including 4,074 second doses.
Conversely, Moose Jaw and South Central has seen only 741 cases of COVID-19, with 22 active cases in the local area and only one in the Assiniboia region.
South West, meanwhile, has a total of 599 cases and only three active, the lowest in the province.
Saskatchewan is currently in Phase 1 of the vaccination plan, focussing on the high-risk population in the province, which Phase 2 moving into the general population as early as April 2021.
You can click right here for the latest information on the COVID-19 vaccine in Saskatchewan.
