COVID CASES ON THE RISE
Far north west drives spike
Saskatchewan reported 53 new cases of COVID -19 on Wednesday, the most in about two weeks, as a wave of infections partly related to wildfire evacuations struck the far north.
Twenty-four of those new cases were in the far north west zone. It now has 72 active cases overall, the most of any region. According to Dr. Nnamdi Ndubuka, with the Northern Inter-tribal Health Authority, there are now 56 active case on reserves in the far north west. Most of those are on the Buffalo River Dene Nation, west of Buffalo Narrows. Ndubuka said the increase there “resulted from the community displacement and evacuation due to forest fires.”
“Travel outside the province was also identified as a risk factor for transmission,” he added.
Northern communities have low vaccination rates compared to the rest of Saskatchewan. Among residents on reserves under NITHA responsibility in the far northwest, about 41 per cent were vaccinated with at least one dose as of Monday. Just 27 per cent were fully vaccinated, according to Ndubuka.
Chief Teddy Clark of the Clearwater River Dene Nation said his community is dealing with 10 positive cases. In his view, some people are letting their guard down too quickly, especially given low vaccination rates.
In the area encompassing Clearwater and La Loche, just 34 per cent of residents had at least one dose as of July 14, according to an SHA update shared with the community.
The far northwest was the site of the province's worst outbreak of spring 2020. Centred in and around La Loche, it lasted for weeks, with more than 330 active cases at its peak.
This month, the far northeast had previously been an epicentre of COVID-19 cases, owing to an outbreak on Hatchet Lake Dene Nation. But there were only two new cases reported there on Wednesday. According to Ndubuka, there have now been 163 confirmed cases linked to that outbreak overall. About 70 per cent have screened positive for variants of concern.
There were five new cases in the Saskatoon zone and four in the Regina zone reported in Wednesday's update.
Health officials gave an additional 5,413 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Saskatchewan people as of Wednesday's update, barely putting a dent in the stockpile of about 455,000 doses built up in recent weeks as supply outpaces demand.
About 305,000 are Moderna vaccines, while 129,000 are Pfizer and 21,000 are Astrazeneca.
According to Derek Miller, commander of the SHA'S emergency operations centre, there is sufficient space to store all anticipated doses. Some are being distributed to pharmacies and First Nations health partners. He said the SHA and its partners are working with the Ministry of Health to avoid any risk of expiry.
Pharmacists have noted a slowdown in demand over the past three weeks, according to Myla Bulych, director of professional affairs at the Pharmacy Association of Saskatchewan.
A few have raised concerns about stocks of Moderna doses set to expire in early August, she said, though the numbers are “fairly limited.”
“Pharmacies have a pretty good system in place to anticipate their needs, so if some do expire in the pharmacy's hands, we expect it to be minimal,” she said. But the slowdown means there “very well could be some expiry dates and some wastage coming our way.”
She said pharmacies are sharing to get vaccines to where they're needed and mitigate that risk as much as possible.
Pharmacists are also more frequently turning to their intercoms to find unvaccinated shoppers, Bulych said, especially when cancelled appointments leave vials with fluid to spare.
Saskatchewan had the lowest first-dose coverage among the provinces as of July 10, though its second-dose rate is high.
Currently, about 74 per cent of Saskatchewan residents over age 12 are at least partly vaccinated.
The federal government is set to deliver more than 180,000 doses to Saskatchewan over the next two weeks. Asked if it even makes sense to keep receiving vaccines amid a glut, Bulych said it's hard to predict human behaviour.
“I would hate for somebody to want to come and get vaccinated, and for us to not have it on hand,” she said.
“It's a delicate balance of managing supply and demand — it's not easy.”
No new deaths were reported Wednesday, while 59 people with COVID -19 were in hospital.