A dose of the Pfizer vaccine at a COVID-19 vaccination drive-thru clinic at Evraz Place in Regina on April 15, 2021.Mark Taylor/The Canadian Press
Saskatchewan Health says the overwhelming majority of people still getting COVID-19 in the province are unvaccinated.
The province says in a news release that more than 90 per cent of the 1,220 people who tested positive for COVID-19 in July were unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.
It says 95 per cent of those admitted to the intensive care unit and four people who died were either unvaccinated or tested positive within three weeks of receiving their first dose.
About a third of the province’s cases were in people 19 and under, and about 20 per cent were in children under 12 who cannot yet be vaccinated.
The Saskatchewan Health Authority continues to hold pop-up and walk-in vaccination clinics throughout the province.
Residents who are fully vaccinated will now have access to a one-page printable record from their online health account that will include a date and location of vaccination and the brand administered.
“While your complete immunization record has always been available on your MySaskHealthRecord account, this is a more user-friendly version that provides only your COVID vaccination record,” Health Minister Paul Merriman said in a news release.
“While proof of vaccination is not required by the government of Saskatchewan for events or venues, we know that there are some locations within Canada that are requesting that documentation.”
He said residents without an account can visit eHealth Saskatchewan to set one up.
Saskatchewan is also working with the federal government to develop an official proof of vaccination certificate by this fall that will include a QR code to support proof of vaccination at border entry if travelling internationally.
Several medical, political and business groups have spoken in support of vaccine certificates as a way to avoid lockdowns, but some provinces – including Ontario – have rebuffed those calls.
Quebec, meanwhile, announced last Thursday it would introduce a vaccine certificate system, and the Health Minister said 11,519 people booked a first-dose appointment that day – double the number of previous days.
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