COVID-19 news recap for this week: April 26 to 30

On April 27, public health shared the list of participating pharmacy locations that will be delivering COVID-19 vaccines to the public, naming four Moose Jaw locations. A total of 63 pharmacies in 14 communities are participating in the pilot, delivering vaccines to residents according to the province’s eligible age range beginning on April 29.

The Moose Jaw Co-op Pharmacy at Hillcrest (7A Thatcher Drive E) is accepting vaccine appointments by phone, appointments at Safeway Pharmacy (200 1st Ave NW) are available online at pharmacyappointments.ca, and Loblaw Pharmacy (30 Thatcher Drive E) is booking appointments by phone.

TLC Pharmacy located in the Town n’ Country Mall has already booked all of its vaccine appointments. Individuals booking appointments are to contact the individual pharmacies directly, not public health.

--------

Three new COVID-19 outbreaks in Moose were announced this week, bringing the total active outbreaks to six in the city.

The McDonald’s restaurant located on Thatcher Drive announced an outbreak on April 23, and Moose Jaw’s SARCAN Recycling location closed its doors, including Drop n’ Go services, until further notice after an outbreak was declared on April 27.

St Michael’s School declared an outbreak on April 28, and positive cases were reported at A. E. Peacock Collegiate and Central Collegiate.

Cornerstone Collegiate was removed from the list on April 28 for the first time since the school declared an outbreak near the end of March.

--------Saskatchewan announced that the eligible age range to book COVID-19 vaccine appointments has been lowered to include residents aged 40 and older, effective April 30.

The vaccination plan will also now move on to include emergency and frontline workers as a priority group for immunization, including police, firefighters, healthcare workers, public health inspectors, teachers and educational staff working with students.

These priority individuals may book a vaccine appointment provided they are within the eligible age range and can provide proof of employment.

--------

Public health also opened up several drive-through clinics over the weekend, offering vaccination to residents within the current eligibility groups, including in Moose Jaw. Future clinic dates will be shared at saskatchewan. ca/drive-thru-vax.

--------

For more information on any of these COVID-19 announcements, visit the COVID-19 Local News tab on MooseJawToday.com for expanded stories.