Moe again urges younger people to get COVID vaccines

Premier Scott Moe believes Saskatchewan’s seniors have thrown down the gauntlet when it comes to COVID-19 vaccinations.

Now he wants younger people in the province to pick it up.

“We’re happy with the uptake of the vaccines thus far,” Moe said during a media conference Tuesday. “We’re happy with the high numbers that we see in our elderly years population and (that’s) really challenging our more youthful years in the population to try to meet those numbers that our parents and our grandparents have hit.”

As of Tuesday, 88 per cent of those 80 and over had received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine, as had 86 per cent of those between the ages of 70 and 79 and 80 per cent of those in their 60s.

“They should inspire us to roll up our sleeve when we become eligible,” said Dr. Saqib Shahab, Saskatchewan’s chief medical health officer. “We see an initial, quick uptake in younger age groups and then it seems to level off. We need to make sure that all of us plan to get vaccinated.”

The vaccination rate for people in their 50s was at 67 per cent, but that was up only three per cent from the level it was at last Thursday. There was more growth in the 40-to-49 age group (up from 45 to 54 per cent since Thursday) and among people in their 30s (up from 16 to 27 per cent).

The age of eligibility for booking vaccinations is to drop from 29 and older to 26 and over on Wednesday, so the government hopes to see immunization numbers increasing quickly among those under 30.

Moe said the province is doing what it can to convince younger people to get vaccinated, whether it’s advertising that could resonate with them or giving them three hours of paid leave so they can leave work and get immunized.

The premier also reiterated that all residents of the province should get a shot, including those in the younger demographics.

“Some young people may be thinking they don’t need to be vaccinated, but you do for a number of reasons,” Moe said. “First, you need to protect yourself. COVID is dangerous to people of all ages, including our youth, and the variants of concern that are now present in higher concentrations in Saskatchewan have shown to be more dangerous to young people as well.

“Secondly, you need to protect not only yourself but those around you. You don’t want to spread COVID to your friends, to your parents and ultimately to your grandparents and all of the other people in your community that you may come in contact with each and every day.

“And third, we need everyone to get vaccinated so that we can get back to normal.”

Those who may want to go to a drive-through clinic to get a shot will have options earlier than expected.

Moe said the drive-through at Saskatoon’s Prairieland Park, which was scheduled to reopen Friday, instead will start accepting patients Wednesday. And he said the drive-through at Regina’s Evraz Place is slated to be in operation Thursday, one day before it was scheduled to open.

Both are expected to run until Sunday.

The Saskatoon drive-through is to run daily from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. The clinic in Regina is to operate each day from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

There also are to be walk-in clinics this week in Regina, to be held at the Argyle Park Community Centre (Thursday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.) and the South Leisure Neighbourhood Centre (Friday, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.).

Other walk-ins scheduled for this week are set for Kipling (Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Kipling Rec Centre), Martensville (Wednesday and Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Northridge Centennial Community Centre), Melville (Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Horizon Credit Union Centre), Moose Jaw (Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Exhibition Grounds), Moosomin (Tuesday, noon to 8 p.m., Moosomin Communiplex) and Ogema (Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Heritage Hall).

Drive-in clinics are set for Lloydminster (Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Exhibition Grounds), North Battleford (Wednesday and Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., 391 Yellowhead Highway), Warman (Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., 501 Centennial Blvd.) and Yorkton (Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., St. Mary’s Cultural Centre).