'We don't want the variant taking hold': Vaccines flow into Saskatoon to help protect remaining health care capacity

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Saskatoon — Health minister Paul Merriman says the province is making a vaccine push into the city to help preserve Saskatchewan's remaining health care capacity.

Hospitals in Regina have been overwhelmed with variant COVID-19 cases and the number of patients who need inpatient or intensive care in Saskatoon is creeping up.

According to Monday's provincial COVID-19 update, 1,704 vaccines were delivered in Saskatoon, while just 411 were administered in Regina.

That follows Saturday and Sunday where 3,277 and 2,517 doses were dispensed in Saskatoon respectively. In Regina there were 627 vaccines provided on Saturday and 430 on Sunday.

The totals mark a significant shift from Friday, when 2,276 doses were dispensed in Saskatoon and 1,197 in Regina.

Speaking to reporters at the legislature on Monday, Merriman said the stark difference in the numbers outlined the most recent update was partly due to "low appointment booking" over the weekend and fact the Saskatoon drive-thru clinic was open while Regina's was not.

"There's not a lot of people that are booking on the weekend so we're trying to encourage people to get out and book your appointment on the weekend, as soon as possible. Don't wait till the weekday," Merriman said.

However, Merriman said the change in numbers is also strategic as the province aims to turn back the climb in variant case numbers in the city.

"The reason that we're getting into Saskatoon a little bit more is to make sure that we're we're protecting our provincial health care capacity," Merriman said.

"We don't want things to get overwhelmed in Saskatoon because that is what we are having as our provincial capacity, kind of our reserves up there. So we don't want to the variant taking hold," Merriman said.

As of Monday's update, there were 58 people receiving inpatient care in Saskatoon due to COVID-19, 52 in Regina. Twenty-seven people were in intensive care in Regina and 11 in Saskatoon.​

Despite the recent contrasts in vaccine numbers for Saskatchewan's two largest cities, Merriman said, outside of the far north, per capita, Regina has received more vaccine does than any other area of the province.​