Saskatchewan rolls out Moderna vaccine, long-term care resident receives first shot

REGINA

Saskatchewan has vaccinated its first long-term care resident against COVID-19.

The province says the shot went to Jimmy Favel in the village of Ile-a-la-Crosse, nearly 500 kilometres north of Saskatoon.

Favel and his granddaughter, who is a nurse in the community, were among the first to be inoculated with the Moderna vaccine.

Health officials plan to use the Moderna’s vaccine in longterm care homes and in remote communities, because it’s easier to transport than Pfizer-BioNTech’s version, which needs ultracold storage.

The province says more than 4,200 doses of the Pfizer vaccine have gone into the arms of health-care workers in Regina and Saskatoon since it arrived several weeks ago.

Those doctors and nurses still need their second shot to be fully immunized, which officials say will happen soon.

Five more people, all 80 or older, were reported Tuesday to have died from COVID-19, bringing the province’s pandemic death toll to 165.

Another 153 new infections were recorded, 166 people were in hospital and 31 of those were receiving intensive care.