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Saskatchewan is introducing another vaccine to fight COVID-19.
In Thursday’s update — which also revealed there were 1,032 new cases, 24 deaths and 354 hospitalizations during the weekly reporting period — the provincial government announced Novavax will be available to people 18 and over starting Monday.
The province has secured 4,200 doses of the vaccine, which requires 21 days between its two doses. Appointments can be booked by calling 1-833-727-5829; the vaccine won’t be available at pharmacies.
“Residents may choose this protein-based vaccine rather than the mRNA (Pfizer, Moderna) or viral vector (Janssen) vaccines, or receive it if they have contraindications to mRNA vaccines,” the government’s release said. “Novavax is available for third or fourth doses, when an individual is eligible to receive them.”
Saskatchewan’s vaccination rates have dropped in recent months. Only three zones — Regina (82.5 per cent), northeast (80 per cent) and Saskatoon (80 per cent) — have more than 80 per cent of eligible residents with a completed series.
The government’s weekly epidemiological report said 3,202 doses had been administered during the week, including 252 first shots, 690 second shots and 2,253 booster shots.
The government also said it was discontinuing the use of Sotrovimab, a monoclonal antibody treatment.
According to the government, clinical studies have shown a reduced efficacy against Omicron’s BA.2 subvariant, which has become the dominant strain in the province.
The Paxlovid antiviral pill will still be available.
As of last week, 166 Paxlovid prescriptions had been provided in Saskatchewan and 344 monoclonal antibody treatments had been administered.
A look at the numbers
Between March 27 and April 2, there were 1,032 new cases confirmed in 7,689 laboratory tests in Saskatchewan.
The test positivity rate during the week was 13.2 per cent, up from 12.3 per cent the previous week. The test positivity rate in the Regina zone was 20.3 per cent.
The new cases during the week were reported in the Saskatoon (304), Regina (178), central-east (128), southeast (71), northwest (69), south-central (66), north-central (36), northeast (27), central-west (26), southwest (19), far northwest (nine) and far northeast (seven) zones. The hometowns of 92 cases were pending.
The total number of cases was down from the previous week, when 1,196 cases were reported.
The newly reported deaths included six in the Saskatoon region, three in each of the Regina, northwest, central-east and southeast areas, two in the north-central region, and one in each of the far northwest, far northeast, northeast and central-west zones.
Eight of the deaths were in the 80-and-over age group, there were five in each of the 40-to-59, 60-to-69 and 70-to-79 age groups, and there was one between the ages of 20 and 39.
The government said 16 of the deaths had happened during the week; eight occurred between March 21 and March 26 but were only reported during the week.
To date, 1,255 Saskatchewan residents have died due to COVID.
As of Wednesday, there were 354 COVID patients in Saskatchewan hospitals, an increase of 30 from the previous week. It’s the most COVID-related hospitalizations in the province since mid-February.
The latest total included 145 people with COVID-related illnesses, 177 people who had incidental infections and 32 cases that were under investigation.
There were 20 people in intensive care units, one fewer than the week before.
Of the emergency department visits related to COVID, the rate in the seniors’ age group was 50.3 per 1,000 visits, up from the average rate over the previous six weeks of 32.0 per 1,000 visits.
The government said there were 20 confirmed COVID outbreaks in long-term (14) and personal (six) care homes. There were 12 outbreaks reported during the previous week.