Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said vaccination numbers for both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are improving after a holiday slowdown. Pfizer recently announced that doses would be slowed due to a situation at a factory and Moe reiterated a point made by Ontario Premier Doug Ford in a press conference earlier in the day.

“I think Premier Ford made some comments about what he would urge the Prime Minister to do and that was to find someone if not the CEO of Pfizer and maybe light a firecracker up his yin-yang I believe was the words that I heard. He did say that … if the Prime Minister was able to do that there would be a lineup of premiers behind and I would bring a lighter,” Moe said.

Moe gave credit to healthcare workers for and policy changes for the improvement in vaccination numbers.

“In the past week we have administered vaccines in long term care facilities in a number of communities throughout the province and to many other people aged 70 and over in those very same communities. As a result we were able to deliver about 15,000 vaccination shots this past week,” Moe said.

He explained that Saskatchewan is currently second on a per capita basis to Prince Edward Island on delivery of vaccinations.

“In fact, if Saskatchewan were a country our pace of vaccines delivered would now be in the top ten among all countries worldwide. So that is very good news. And we will continue to deliver vaccines as safely and as quickly and as efficiently as possible just as soon as we are able to receive them from the federal government.”

The provincial NDP took issue with the way vaccines have been rolled out. During a press conference Tuesday, they cited a situation at a Regina assisted living resident where leftover vaccines were divvied up by drawing names from a hat.

NDP deputy leader Nicole Sarauer said it’s a sign of a wider problem of a confusing and disorganized vaccine roll-out.

Administrator of the Qu’Aappelle House in Regina, Bev Desautels, doesn’t see it that way.

She told the Regina Leader-Post she requested enough doses to vaccinate all 75 residents and staff at the facility on Tuesday. But public health alerted her that morning they wouldn’t be vaccinating 15 assisted-living residents. The vaccine was only for those in long-term care, a higher level of care.

Yet there was enough vaccine left in vials already opened to make up six doses. Public health nurses didn’t want to waste the precious fluid, so they asked Desautels to pick six assisted-living residents to get the shot, she recalls. She’d have to leave nine unvaccinated and still at risk.

“They asked me to choose, and I said, no, I’m not going to choose,” she recalls. “So I put the names in a hat and the nurses pulled out names.”

The SHA said that the incident will be reviewed, but applauded staff for their ingenuity.

The slowdown of Pfizer shipments will mean only 2,925 more doses of the vaccine are delivered next week.

“Those doses will be delivered to Regina to Fort Qu’Appelle and to North Battleford. Where they will be administered to residents and staff in long term care as well as personal care homes. At the pace we are going and with the slowdown in deliveries from Pfizer we expect that Saskatchewan will run out of vaccines over the course of the next few days,” Moe said.

For the next month, the province will be receiving 17.5 thousand doses from Pfizer which is over half of what was expected.

“We did almost that many shots this past week alone. And just this morning Major General Fortin said that Canada is expecting more deliveries from Pfizer next week. So we are in the process of seeking clarification if that will further impact Saskatchewan’s total supply of vaccines over the course of the next four weeks,” Moe said.

According to Moe, the province will have to revise their vaccine rollout plan and needs the federal government to pick up the pace on deliveries as well as negotiations with Pfizer.

Moe expects life to return to normal after a significant portion of the province has received both doses of any of the vaccines available.

“I would encourage everyone to sign up to get vaccinated as soon as it is your turn and to continue in the meantime to follow all of the public health orders and the guidelines that are in place. We will get through this as we get more of our population vaccinated yes, but until then I am asking everyone to keep following all of these public health orders that are in place. Keep yourselves safe and keep those around you safe and keep your family safe,” Moe said.

There were another six deaths related to COVID-19 reported in Saskatchewan on Tuesday.

There were five deaths reported in the 80-years-old and over age group with two in Regina and the South East and one in the Saskatoon zone.

One reported death in the Central West zone was in the 60 to 69 age group.

The number of deaths in the province has grown to 225.

There were 309 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the province on Tuesday.

The North Central zone, which includes Prince Albert, reported 30 new cases.

North Central 2, which is Prince Albert, has 283 active cases.  

North Central 1, which includes communities such as Christopher Lake, Candle Lake and Meath Park, has 141 active cases and North Central 3 has 140 active cases.  

There were also four case with pending information added to the North Central zone.  

The current seven-day average is 300, or 26.4 cases per 100,000 population.  

 The recovered number now sits at 16,490 after 412 more  were reported.

On Jan. 18 there were 1,957 doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered, bringing the total number of vaccinations to 25,475.

There were 36 doses administered in North Central yesterday. None were administered in the adjacent North East zone.

There were 2,929 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on Jan 18.

COVID-19 recovered numbers to change over next few days

According to a release, the Ministry of Health and Saskatchewan Health Authority continue to ensure that public reporting of COVID-19 cases reflects current, active case counts including those who require hospital care. 

They explained that currently the reporting database is being updated to reconcile a significant backlog in the number of recoveries and these will be reflected in the daily case statistics over the coming days.  

Reporting procedures will be amended to ensure such reconciliations are not required going forward.  The data reconciliation includes updates to active cases in the following areas: 21 days past their test positive date or date when their symptoms first appeared  – approximately 588 cases,  15-20 days past their test positive date or date when their symptoms first appeared  – approximately 567 cases and 11-14 days past their test positive date or date when their symptoms first appeared  – approximately 882 cases.

The Northern Inter-Tribal Health Authority (NITHA) announced on Jan. 17 that they were ending the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak declared in Sturgeon Lake First Nation on Dec. 30, 2020.

Dr. Nnamdi Ndubuka, Medical Health Officer with NITHA, has declared the outbreak over after the standard 28-day period has passed after the onset of the last case that had the potential to contribute to transmission in Sturgeon Lake First Nation.

“This does not mean there are no cases in the community. The public is reminded that during the COVID-19 pandemic it is important to continue to take precautions to protect yourself, your families and everyone who lives in the community. COVID-19 is present in Saskatchewan and we all have a responsibility to minimize the spread of the disease,” the release stated.

They reminded people that masking in all indoor public spaces and physical distancing should be done at all times to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Another reminder was for everyone to follow the public health guidelines for hand washing, physical distancing, self-monitoring and self-isolating to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and protect our most vulnerable populations.

“Together we can make a positive difference in our community by reducing the spread.”

A University of Saskatchewan (USask) study has found that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to significant worsening of already poor dietary habits, low activity levels, sedentary behaviour and high alcohol consumption among university students.

The findings of the study—the first to assess changes in students’ dietary intake, physical activity, and sedentary behaviour before and during the pandemic were published on Monday, Jan. 18 in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism.

“Our findings are important because university students, especially those most vulnerable for poor nutrition and sedentary behaviour, should be targeted for interventions aimed at maintaining and improving physical activity and dietary practices during this pandemic and beyond,” said research lead and USask nutrition professor Dr. Gordon Zello (PhD).

The four-month study involved 125 graduate and undergraduate students at USask and the University of Regina who were the most vulnerable as they were living independently or had roommates or partners and were responsible for buying and preparing their own meals.

The students responded to an online questionnaire about their food and drink consumption, physical activity and sedentary behaviour before and during the pandemic.

According to Zello The study began just as Saskatchewan was imposing pandemic restrictions, so details of what students were eating prior to the pandemic and during it were fresh on the minds of students.

“With pre-pandemic research already showing university students to be a vulnerable group for inadequate diet and physical activity, the measures imposed to curb the COVID pandemic presented a unique opportunity to examine further impact on their lives,” he explained.

The study found that the students consumed less food every day during the pandemic compared to before. For instance, they ate 20 per cent less meat, 44 per cent less dairy, and 45 per cent fewer vegetables. While they also drank considerably fewer beverages such as coffee and tea, their alcohol consumption increased significantly, said Zello.

“This dietary inadequacy combined with long hours of sedentary behaviour and decreased physical activity could increase health risks in this unique population during COVID-19 confinement and once the pandemic ends,” Zello said.

Several reasons could explain the dietary shift, according to Zello and co-investigators kinesiology professor Dr. Phil Chilibeck (PhD) and post-doctoral fellow Leandy Bertrand. Psychological distress has been linked to poor diet quality, particularly increased consumption of alcohol. As well, students could be eating less to offset their lack of exercise and increased sedentariness.

Zello explained measures implemented to fight COVID spread, such as reduced store and restaurant hours, may have limited students’ shopping frequency and at-home availability of food.

While only 16 per cent of participants were meeting Canadian guidelines of 150 minutes of moderate to intense physical activity per week before the pandemic, that further decreased to 9.6 per cent during the pandemic.

Of those who were meeting Canadian activity guidelines before the pandemic, 90 per cent became less active. Meanwhile, the number of hours spent in sedentary behaviour rose by three hours, to about 11 hours a day.

“There’s no doubt that measures such as the closures of gyms and other recreational facilities by the universities and other private and public establishments within the province resulted in reductions in the level of physical activity,” the study stated.

Another reason for the reduction in physical activity may be that many students were no longer walking to school after the universities moved to remote learning.

About 55 per cent were employed before the pandemic, dropping to 49 per cent during the pandemic.

Other members of the research team were graduate student Keely Shaw, research assistant John Ko, and undergraduate summer student Dalton Deprez.

The Northern Inter-Tribal Health Authority’s public health officials announced a COVID-19 outbreak in the community of Black Lake First Nation on Jan. 17.

The outbreak was connected to an increasing number of confirmed cases linked to both a mass gathering and travel out of the community.

Officials are notifying the public that individuals who tested COVID-19 positive attended a wake/funeral event in Black on New Year’s and Jan. 1 and 2, 2021when the individuals were likely infectious.

A contract tracing investigation is currently underway.

Public health officials are advising individuals who were at these events on the dates specified to immediately self-isolate if they have had or currently have any symptoms of COVID-19. The also advise to call HealthLine 811 or a community health clinic to arrange for assessment and testing.

“All other individuals who are not experiencing symptoms should self-monitor for 14 days from the date of last exposure, it is important to note that individuals may develop symptoms from two to 14 days following exposure to the virus that causes COVID-19,” the release explained.

Symptoms of COVID-19 can vary from person to person but some common symptoms include a new or worsening cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, temperature equal to or over 39 C, feeling feverish, chills, fatigue or weakness, muscle or body aches, now loss of smell or taste, headache, gastrointestinal symptoms and feeling very unwell.