Saskatchewan considering mixing and matching vaccines for second doses

Premier Scott Moe said Tuesday the province is leaning towards offering Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine as second doses for those who received AstraZeneca as their first shot.

In an interview with Gormley, Moe pointed to Ontario, which is already considering a practice of mixing and matching vaccines for second doses.

Moe said the province’s chief medical health officer, Dr. Saqib Shahab, is reviewing a British study into it.

“The second issue with this is we don’t have any definite supply of AstraZeneca on the horizon. So doctors are always watching the science very closely. Pfizer is proven to be really the staple of our vaccine supply here,” Moe said.

“If the results of that study are what they look like they will be, and what everyone is expecting them to be, it’ll be a Pfizer vaccine that will be provided to all of those that received AstraZeneca here in the province.”

The province has scheduled second doses to begin on May 17, starting with those 85 and older along with anybody who received their first dose before Feb. 15.

As was the case for first doses, second ones will be sequenced by age.

Second shots are expected to be delivered within 13 weeks of the first jab, although that timeline depends on the availability of vaccine supply.

Over the weekend, Saskatchewan reached a 70 per cent vaccination rate for those 40 and older. That was the trigger to set a date for Step 1 of the government’s plan to ease pandemic restrictions. That date was set for May 30, or three weeks from the day the vaccination target was achieved.

Moe said the vaccination rate for those 30 and older is now at 61 per cent. Once uptake reaches 70 per cent, there will be a date announced to commence Step 2 of the reopening plan.

If all goes to plan, that date will be three weeks after May 30, to fall around June 20-21.

“If our other metrics that Dr. Shahab and the Saskatchewan Health Authority are watching — with respect to hospitalizations (and) our daily case count to a lesser degree — if those continue to be declining, we may pull (the start date for Step 2) ahead to the date we actually meet that threshold,” Moe said.

While it wouldn’t push Saskatchewan any closer to reopening, Moe also said snowbirds who received vaccines abroad will be allowed to register their inoculations by phone or online. That would push the province’s vaccination rate up further.

As more people in Saskatchewan become vaccinated and then fully vaccinated, Moe signalled a further discussion on vaccine passports.

“Maybe (we’ll) talk to the federal government around about how now fully vaccinated Saskatchewan people will be able to move around the country and around the world,” he said.

“That roadmap needs to be coming in the weeks ahead as well, because the questions most certainly will be coming.”