Ashley Messier builds hockey legacy with sights on PWHL, Olympics
9h ago
Mark Messier is her distant cousin, but this Sask. hockey product is carving her own path.
Starting Monday, all Saskatchewan residents 12 and older will have access to Pfizer’s bivalent vaccine.
According to the Ministry of Health, bivalent vaccines offer improved protection against the Omicron variant. The Moderna bivalent vaccine is already available in Saskatchewan.
The new Pfizer vaccine will be available at booked and walk-in clinics around the province, the ministry said, including clinics in First Nations and Métis communities.
“The Pfizer bivalent has been approved by Health Canada as a booster dose,” the ministry said in a statement Friday.
“It is recommended that all residents 12 years and older receive their bivalent booster dose at least four months following their last COVID-19 vaccination, regardless of the number of COVID-19 doses received to date.”
Those who have had COVID are still eligible for the vaccine, but it was recommended they wait up to three months after their infection to receive the best immune response.
“Getting up-to-date with either of these bivalent booster doses affords you the best protection against severe COVID-19 outcomes this fall,” the ministry said.
The latest COVID-19 report from the government showed Saskatchewan’s vaccination rate was low, with the Regina zone the only one in the province where more than half of the population was up to date with COVID vaccines, as of Oct. 8.
In Regina, 51 per cent of the population is up to date on COVID-19 vaccines, the report noted. Saskatoon was not far behind at 49 per cent, but the lowest rate was found in the Far North Central zone, where only 14 per cent of residents were up to date on COVID vaccines.