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If Saskatchewan receives all of the COVID-19 vaccine doses it’s expecting this month, second doses could be administered beginning in late May or early June.
During Tuesday’s provincial news conference, Premier Scott Moe said he’s expecting more than 367,000 vaccine doses from Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, along with about 200 extra AstraZeneca doses.
“As we make that first dose available to all Saskatchewan residents, we will not take an hour and turn around and start offering that second dose on a priority basis, so that people in this province will have that second dose at least within that 16-week time interval that is there,” Moe said. “And I would say in many cases it will be far less than that.”
Chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab said countries like the U.S. and Israel that have had access to a high number of vaccines have been able to maintain a two-dose program much more easily.
Shahab said several months after vaccination programs began in Saskatchewan, the next two will be “blockbuster” in terms of vaccines arriving in the province.
“Second doses will start in June. But then in the next two months (after that) we are going to complete the second doses. So the second doses will happen in a much compressed time frame compared with the first doses,” he explained.
While those over the age of 16 can be vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine, Shahab says he’s also expecting more information soon on vaccinating even younger age groups.
“We are expecting approval of at least one vaccine by Health Canada for the 12-to-15 age group. As soon as that is approved and recommended we would like to move ahead as quickly as we can for that age group …,” Shahab said. “The more young people get vaccinated, the more our community transmission rates will come (down).”
Vaccine “mixing and matching” is another issue at least two other provinces are looking into over the next couple of months if not enough additional AstraZeneca vaccines arrive from either the U.S. or India.
Moe and Shahab say they expect there to be enough of that vaccine, and those who received that brand aren’t eligible for second doses until June anyway.
However, in the event not enough AstraZeneca vaccines are available, Shahab said he’s keeping an eye on a U.K. study that alternates it with Pfizer.
“We will await their results by early June whether there’s no difference, whether it’s not as effective or more effective and then that will inform us for decisions on mix-and-match schedules if that were to be required,” he explained.
Saskatchewan Health Authority CEO Scott Livingstone echoed those comments and added that whenever the next AstraZeneca delivery arrives, because of age restrictions on that vaccine, it will be used for second doses.
“At this time we don’t have concerns about receiving it,” said Livingstone.
