As of Jan. 5, a total of 4,254 doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine have been provided in Saskatchewan. The majority of those first doses have been administered to health care workers as part of the pilot project, which is completed in Regina and nearing 90 per cent completion in Saskatoon.
Those same health care workers will begin receiving their second doses soon, at which point they will be fully immunized.
The province expects a shipment of vaccines to be received in Prince Albert this week to allow vaccinations for eligible health care staff, and long-term and personal care home residents in the area to begin.
Vaccination of long term care residents and health providers began this morning in Saskatchewan’s far north. The first Moderna vaccinations were provided in Île-à-la-Crosse to registered nurse Brittany Favel and her grandfather Jimmy Favel, who is a resident in Île-à-la-Crosse Long-Term Care. Vaccinations also started in La Loche this morning, as part of the rollout in the Far North West zone.
There are 153 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan on Jan. 5, bringing the provincial total to date to 16,520 cases.
Five Saskatchewan residents who tested positive for COVID-19 have died. All five are in the 80-plus age group, with two from Regina, and one each from the north central, northeast and south central zones.
Six new cases are from the South East zone. One is in South East Zone 4, which includes Estevan.
There are also three new cases in Zone 3, which includes Weyburn and is to the west of Zone 4; and two in Zone 1, to the northwest of Zone 4.
Twelve cases in Zone 4 are considered active. There are 167 active cases in the southeast region.
The other new cases are located in the Far North West (eight), Far North East (six), North West (13), North Central (14), North East (five), Saskatoon (33), Central West (one), Central East (13), Regina (39) and South Central (1) regions. Fourteen new cases have pending residence information.
Another 120 people are listed as recovered, bringing the provincial total for recoveries to 13,298, and 3,057 cases are considered active.
One hundred and sixty-six people are in hospital. One hundred and thirty-five people are receiving inpatient care: one in the Far North West, one in the Far North East, six in the North West, 25 in the North Central, three in the North East, 40 in the Saskatoon, five in the Central East, 42 in the Regina, two in the South West, two in the South Central and eight in the South East zones. The number of hospitalizations is up three from Jan. 4.
Thirty-one people are in intensive care: two in the North West, four in the North Central, 10 in the Saskatoon, one in the Central East and 14 in the Regina zones.
There were 1,779 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on Jan. 4. Seventy-one tests were administered in the southeast on Jan. 4.
To date, 437,421 COVID-19 tests have been processed in Saskatchewan. As of Jan. 3, when other provincial and national numbers were available, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 260,933 people tested per million population. The national rate was 375,678 people tested per million population.
The seven-day average of daily new cases is 214 (17.7 new cases per 100,000 population).
