Premier Moe says Saskatchewan trending toward looser COVID-19 rules

As Saskatchewan’s COVID-19 infections continue trending downward, the relaxing of pandemic health measures could soon follow.

Premier Scott Moe hinted at the possibility of easing restrictions last week. He remained optimistic during an interview on the Roy Green Show on Sunday.

“We are looking, as soon as we are able, to get things back to normal in Saskatchewan,” Moe said.

“We have a very robust vaccination plan. It’s an age-basis criteria where we’re ensuring that we are making vaccines available to our most elderly. All of our publicly run long-term care facilities have had … access to vaccines and now we are into our age 70 and above.”

Roughly eight out of 100,000 people, the majority being elderly, have been vaccinated in Saskatchewan to date.

In addition to the measures the province is considering removing, Moe said his government hopes to open more sectors of the economy in the coming months.

“Our hospitalizations are dropping here in Saskatchewan,” he said. “They’ve most certainly dropped in other areas. As soon as we see those hospitalizations continue their trajectory down, we are going to start relaxing measures and letting people go back to some degree of normal in Saskatchewan.”

Moe has said limits on household gatherings could be first to be relaxed.

On Thursday, the province approved extending the waiting period to 16 weeks between a first and second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Moe said the extension would not have been needed had the federal government provided the provinces with adequate supplies of vaccine.

“We wouldn’t have to have the conversation if had we had enough vaccines in Canada,” he said. “We don’t, so we are having this secondary conversation about extending the intervals which I will say is a game-changer for how quickly we are able to relax some of the measures in Saskatchewan.”

Moe said just based on the Pfizer and Moderna doses Saskatchewan is scheduled to receive, everyone in the province should have their first shot by the end of June.

Saskatchewan’s current public health measures are set to expire on March 19.