First responders, more health-care workers set to get COVID vaccinations

Saskatchewan’s first responders are about to get a shot in the arm.

The provincial government announced Monday first responders such as police officers, firefighters and public health inspectors will get COVID-19 vaccinations through mobile vaccination units after current priority populations are done.

Health Minister Paul Merriman said that can happen because the mobile clinics, which are currently vaccinating shelters and group homes, are starting to get freed up.

“The opportunity came late Saturday to be able to put some police officers through and we thought we might as well keep going and get our mobile clinics at full capacity,” Merriman said after Question Period.

Police officers in Regina were the first among the newly eligible group to get their shots, going through the drive-through clinic at Regina’s Evraz Place on the weekend. According to the government, the shots were done “during a time of low wait times on Saturday evening and into Sunday.”

About 140 Regina police officers received their first COVID vaccines over the weekend, according to a news release from the Regina Police Service.

About 115 officers got the shot at the drive-through clinic Saturday. Another 25 followed Sunday.

There are about 60 frontline police workers in the Queen City who have not rolled up their sleeves. They will have to wait until more doses are available.

Paramedics were included in Phase 1 of the vaccination plan and already had been vaccinated.

The shots are expected to start being administered in about two weeks.

It’s a big change from previous messaging from both Merriman and Premier Scott Moe, who’ve said multiple times before when asked about prioritizing some frontline workers that the age-based system is the best way to get more people vaccinated quickly.

Merriman said these expansion plans will go ahead, as long as they don’t compromise the main vaccination process.

“If we get some more vaccines, we’re looking at how many we can hive off. We might start slowing down the appointment base system in a few weeks until we move that over to the pharmacies and can we move those into the mobile clinics,” said Merriman.

As part of Phase 1 of the vaccination plan, 40,500 health-care workers were given the option to get the COVID-19 vaccine. According to the government, 27,348 health-care workers got their shots.

The remaining 13,152 first doses will go to frontline health-care workers not included in Phase 1.

Physicians and other eligible Saskatchewan Health Authority health-care workers will get a letter of eligibility telling them how to book a vaccination appointment by phone.

As well, Saskatchewan’s pharmacists are to start delivering vaccines during the week of April 26, which is how grocery store workers will be eligible. Merriman said anyone working at a store with a pharmacy will be able to get a shot.

“We thought it was very important that we get to that demographic, and they have the capabilities in-house to be able to do that,” said Merriman.

Pharmacies will need to see proof of employment in the facility where the shots are being given. Anybody working in a place where vaccines are being delivered is eligible to receive a shot.

The expanded plan will be done as doses allow and Merriman said he’d like to start and concentrate on Regina, seeing as it’s where the majority of the province’s new cases are coming from.

Teachers not included

Teachers have been asking to be prioritized for a vaccine for months, but they’re not included in this expansion.

In explaining the decision, Merriman said the province just doesn’t have the doses for teachers.

“I would have to go out and cancel 10,000 to 12,000 appointments immediately in order to accommodate that, and some people have been waiting for those appointments for a few weeks now so we want to make sure that we honour those appointments,” said Merriman.

He also said the province targeted specific areas in this expansion because these workers, particularly the first responders like police and firefighters, are going into uncontrolled environments.

“They don’t know what they’re going into on a daily basis. It is very volatile and it could change at a moment’s notice,” he said. “Teachers are going into a very controlled environment, with who comes into the school, who doesn’t come into the school, testing that we have with teachers and the cohorting that they have within the students and the bubbles that they do have.”

Chaos and confusion

The Opposition NDP has been criticizing the province’s plan for weeks, saying frontline workers should be prioritized.

On Monday, Leader Ryan Meili said he’s happy to see the change and he supports people on the front lines getting a vaccine.

But Meili also said the plan shows chaos and confusion, which he said is disappointing at this point in the pandemic.

“We’ve been at this for quite a while and really, this government should get better at not saying one day they’re going to do one thing and, the next, completely changing course,” said Meili.

Meili also criticized the government’s rationale behind not including teachers, saying classrooms full of young kids are not a controlled environment.

— With files from 980 CJME’s Lisa Schick