First vaccine doses arrive in southwest Saskatchewan, with 500 now administered

COVID-19 vaccines have arrived in southwest Saskatchewan.

On Thursday, a regional vaccine tracker provided on that province’s pandemic response website showed the area closest to southeast Alberta as the last of 13 health regions to receive doses for local distribution.

An update on Friday announced 1,102 first doses were administered to people in the region who make up Phase One groups, namely health-care workers, any resident of a long-term-care facility and those older than 70 living in the community.

A report from Alberta Newspapers in the region says about 500 vaccines were administered on Feb. 25, the same day MLA Doug Steele (Cypress Hills) announced on social media that a clinic was scheduled to take place at Leader, Sask.

In total, 47,000 of Saskatchewan’s 1.17 million residents had received a first dose as of Friday, and of those, 22,500 had also received a second.

Registrations for Phase Two groups, comprising the rest of the general public in ten year age groupings, will begin after the substantial completion of Phase One.

Targeted programs at that stage would focus on communal living situations and those with underlying health conditions that may worsen the effects of the coronavirus.