Health minister speaks on fourth wave, vaccines, public health measures

The Saskatchewan health minister wants to emphasize one major point: people in the province need to get vaccinated.

“I can’t emphasize this enough. We have over 500,000 vaccines in our province right now. There is absolutely no reason that somebody can’t get vaccinated,” Paul Merriman told reporters at the Regina Legislature Wednesday.

“There’s some onus on the individual to go out and get vaccinated, that’s the best tool that we have,” he continued. “Somebody can be fully vaccinated within 28 days of not being vaccinated at all — that’s going to bring down our hospitalization numbers, that’s what’s going to bring down our case count is the vaccinations.”

Merriman said he hasn’t seen things like incentives work and called public health measures a “temporary stopgap” used in the past when vaccines weren’t available.

“Public health measures that other provinces are choosing to do, that’s their prerogative,” Merriman said, “but we feel that the vaccine is the best path through this.”

Since July 11, 2021 when COVID-19 restrictions were completely removed in the province, Merriman said there has been no change.

“Where we’re at is the same place that we were before the emergency order ceased to exist.”

Merriman emphasized a targeted approach, but not a mandated one.

While some businesses and organizations have chosen to mandate double vaccination for customers and visitors, the government official said they are not prepared to do that. Instead, the health minister pointed to their targeted vaccine initiatives, such as offering vaccinations to people at large events like Roughrider games and going door-to-door offering the shot.

“You have to understand, there’s going to be a very small percentage of people that just will not get vaccinated,” Merriman stressed.

The health minister said he has been in ongoing communication with Dr. Shaquib Shahab, chief medical officer for Saskatchewan, as well as his team and local medical health officials.

“We’re very focused on the case count,” Merriman said. “Right now we have the capacity within our hospital system, we have about 19 individuals who are in intensive care and you’ll see from the stats we’ve been putting out that most of the people in hospital are unvaccinated.”

He said the question is, why are people still unvaccinated?

“We had those public health measures in there to help people make the right decisions but it’s time now that the individuals make the decision because we have this tool (vaccines).”

“I think everybody should go and get vaccinated … not just because of attending a venue, not just because of travelling internationally … they should do this for their own health and the health of their community,” he said.

When asked if Saskatchewan is in it’s fourth wave, Merriman said Dr. Shahab should be asked. “I would say we’re seeing all the signs that we are entering the fourth wave.”

Mandatory vaccinations for Rider games up to team

While the government has been in regular communication with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Merriman said the Riders have the capacity to make their own decision when it comes to mandating vaccines for those attending games at Mosaic Stadium.

“We hope that the riders will make a choice in the near future,” Merriman said.

Health minister thanks healthcare workers

Merriman expressed gratitude to healthcare workers who have served Saskatchewan residents since the pandemic began.

“I can’t thank them enough (healthcare workers),” he said. “They have been doing an amazing job, they’ve been asked to change what their daily job was.”

He said with many finally taking some “well-deserved” time off, that could lead to some stress on the healthcare system, but said it has not affected hospital capacities.

Merriman emphasized that localized health concerns — whether COVID-19 outbreaks or other viruses — can be dealt with by local medical officials, depending on the situation.

“The public health officer can make that decision for themselves on what is happening in their specific area,” he said. “They are working with us and Dr. Shahab and his team.”

Merriman said misinformation continues to spread about vaccines and COVID-19, and encouraged residents to seek out the opinion of a medical professional if they have questions.

“People are not necessesarily making an informed choice of why they’re not getting vaccinated or why they’re not getting their second shot,” he said.

School plans

On the subject of back-to-school, Merriman stated that the government chose to leave the specifics to individual school districts so they could best decide how to address the specifics of their communities. He emphasized not wanting to implement a “blanket policy.”

He does say there has been some higher transmission amongst youth under 19, though in a “mild” way.

“They’re not ending up in hospital,” Merriman said.

He encouraged everyone over the age of 12 to get their vaccinations against COVID-19 and stated that if and when the age limit is lowered for vaccine eligibility, the province will be prepared to vaccinate anyone the age limit allows.

COVID statistics: Ministry of Health

In an emailed response, the Ministry of Health provided some information on COVID-19 statistics in Saskatchewan.

When asked about how many of new cases in the province are tried to the Delta variant, a Ministry of Health response said it can take up to three weeks to identify the lineage of new cases.

“Therefore the percentage of new cases that are the Delta variant cannot be calculated,” the response stated.

As of Aug. 23, 1,474 Saskatchewan cases have been tied to the Delta variant of more than 52,000.

The ministry did not clarify how many children under the age of 12 were included in the new unvaccinated cases being reported in the province.

“Children under the age of 12 are part of the 19 and under age group,” the email reads.

Of the 139 cases reported Tuesday, 37 in the 19 and under age group were unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated.

NDP leader says government failing to control pandemic

In a media availability shortly after, NDP leader Ryan Meili denounced the health minister’s comments, saying they showed a “complete lack of understanding” of the situation.

He said Merriman and the government have abdicated responsibility for the pandemic during the summer.

“Now, he comes out and won’t even acknowledge that there’s a fourth wave underway. This is someone who is putting the lives of Saskatchewan people in danger,” Meili said.

Meili said the province should require vaccines for people working in schools, health care facilities and those attending large events. He also demanded a clear answer for when masks would be re-introduced.

“All we’ve seen from this government is a plan for more people to die from COVID-19,” he said.

“If we’re ever going to learn to live with COVID-19 that means we do the right things. Vaccine mandates, test, trace and isolate, every step of which is failing under this government and, of course, the proper use of masks.”

As the province’s vaccination uptake has stalled, Meili blamed the government for not using what his party has billed its “last mile strategy.” That would include the use of mandates, incentivizing vaccination and outreach to help people overcome vaccine hesitancy.

“People should go get vaccinated. But just saying that is not good enough,” Meili said.

He also disagreed with Merriman’s stance on personal responsibility, arguing that lives are at stake.

“This is a time to lead. This is a time where government needs to tell us the right things to do and to help people get there,” he said.

Meili also accused Merriman and Premier Scott Moe of pandering to radical elements in the SaskParty base and allowing anti-vaccination and anti-mask sentiment to grow.

“I don’t know whose idea of a political base that is. But he’s serving the wrong interests. He’s not serving the priorities of Saskatchewan people.”

With files from 980 CJME’s Joseph Ho.