STICK IT TO COVID: Get Vaccinated to Help Protect Children

Released on September 21, 2021

At this time, children under 12 years are not eligible to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in Canada.  Recent news on clinical trials in this age group is encouraging, and the province will move quickly to provide COVID-19 vaccine to additional age groups as soon as any vaccine receives Health Canada approvals.

Until that approval is granted, our best defense of pediatric COVID cases is to increase vaccination rates among all eligible residents.  All Saskatchewan residents who will be 12 years as of December 31, 2021 and older are eligible for vaccination. 

In a recent review of more than 1,600 cases, 98 per cent of school-aged COVID cases lived in unimmunized or partly immunized households.

• The review included 1,643 confirmed cases of all ages between August 20 and September 7, 2021.
• 334 school age children (six to 19 years) were identified. The majority of this group (189 cases or 56.5 per cent) were aged six to 12 years.
• Through the case identification, it was determined two of the households were fully immunized with 78 households unimmunized or partly immunized.

As of September 21, four children under 11 are in hospital; none are in ICU. Children can contract, transmit and become ill with COVID-19 though the risk for serious health outcomes is lower than older populations. Current evidence indicates children with underlying medical conditions and infants less than 12 months may be at elevated risk to COVID-19 illnesses, similar to the 80+ age group.   

Case and contact management in schools continues to be high priority for public health officials.  Information on masking in school settings and the notifications parents will receive in the event of confirmed cases in classrooms is available at Saskatchewan.ca/covid-19.

Public Health Order

Effective Friday, September 17, 2021 Saskatchewan's public health order was expanded to include an interim province-wide mandatory masking order for all indoor public spaces, including schools.  Effective October 1, 2021 will be the provincial requirement for proof of vaccination or negative test for public access to a list of establishments, businesses and event venues, as well as for all Government of Saskatchewan ministry, crown and agency employees.

Saskatchewan residents with a MySaskHealthRecord account can now view their COVID-19 vaccination record in a new format that includes a QR (Quick Response) code. It can be downloaded/saved, printed and viewed on mobile devices.  To get your COVID-19 vaccination certificate with QR code through MySaskHealthRecord or to create a new account, visit www.ehealthsask.ca/MySaskHealthRecord/MySaskHealthRecord.

Wallet cards received at the time of vaccination may be considered acceptable proof of vaccination, depending on the Saskatchewan business or venue's policies. 

Note: vaccine lot numbers are not required for any services provided in Saskatchewan.  Vaccine lot number information will be required when submitting for federal documentation to support international travel, when the federal proof of vaccination document become available.  Check with your destination to confirm vaccination requirements for entry. 

For more information, visit Saskatchewan.ca/covid-19.

COVID-19 Summary for September 21, 2021: 

• From September 15 - 21, 20,164 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 1,523,549.
• As of September 21, 79 per cent of those 12+ have received their first dose and 71 per cent of those 12+ are fully vaccinated.
• There were 3,320 new cases of COVID-19 to report in Saskatchewan from September 15 - 21, bringing the provincial total to 62,989 cases.  Two thousand five hundred and twenty-six recoveries were recorded during the same period.
• The seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan is currently 474 (39.4 per 100,000).
• Nineteen new deaths were reported September 15-21.
• The province no longer tests for variant type on new cases using SNP.  The Delta variant has become the dominant variant in the province of Saskatchewan.  Whole genome sequencing will continue to identify any emerging variants. There were 88 new lineage results reported for September 15-21.
• As of September 21, there are 262 people in hospital: 208 are receiving inpatient care and 54 are in intensive care.  One hundred and ninety-three of the people in hospital (74 per cent) are not fully vaccinated.
• From September 15 - 21, there were 28,071 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan.

Daily provincial COVID-19 statistics by age, date and geographic zones including active cases, recoveries, confirmed variants of concern and vaccination information can be found at www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-cases.

Stick it to COVID - Get Your Vaccination

The Saskatchewan Health Authority is holding pop-up and walk-in vaccination clinics throughout the province, targeting under- and unvaccinated communities.  With increased demand for vaccination, the SHA is adding vaccination clinics.  Watch for details on clinic locations and times are listed on the SHA website.  

Please note clinics are subject to change based on demand, weather, etc.  Any changes to clinic hours and location will be updated online.

A map of pharmacies participating in COVID-19 vaccinations is available at www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-pharmacies.  

General COVID-19 Information

General public inquiries may be directed to COVID19@health.gov.sk.ca.

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For more information, contact:

Health
Regina
Phone: 306-787-4083
Email: media@health.gov.sk.ca