Neck guard sales jump after Sask. hockey player slashed by skate
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More adult players are now investing in the protective equipment.
Don’t expect Saskatchewan to start handing out second doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines just yet because the province is still mulling over its plans and waiting on some information before it goes ahead.
That’s unlike Ontario, where the province has just announced that beginning May 24, those who received their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine between May 10 and May 19 can get their second dose.
Saskatchewan’s chief medical health officer, Dr. Saqib Shahab, says the province is still in the planning stages.
“There is planning that there will be AstraZeneca available for second doses that’s coming in time for people to get the second dose (at) 12 weeks,” he said. “So that is in the works.
“So for the vast majority, the recommendation would be to get the same vaccine as the second dose.”
However, most provinces, including Saskatchewan, aren’t giving out the AstraZeneca vaccines as first doses anymore.
Shahab says the province is also waiting on more information from international studies related to giving out mRNA vaccines like Pfizer or Moderna as second doses.
“We already know that giving second dose Pfizer can cause more local side effects, more systemic side effects,” he said. “We’re waiting on some immunology data from the U.K.
“But if those studies show that a second dose Pfizer is as good as second dose AstraZeneca, then for those circumstances — based on those results — we are still waiting for those results by end of May … If for some reason someone is unable to get a second dose AstraZeneca … that could be a possibility.”
About 73,000 Saskatchewanians received the AstraZeneca product as their first COVID-19 vaccine dose.