'You are prolonging this pandemic': 84 per cent of Sask.'s 394 new COVID-19 cases are not fully vaccinated

REGINA -

Saskatchewan reported 394 new cases of COVID-19 and three more deaths related to the virus Wednesday.

Roughly 84 per cent of newly reported cases are not fully vaccinated. According to the province’s COVID-19 dashboard one in six, 16.4 per cent, of new cases eligible for vaccination were fully vaccinated.

During Wednesday’s live COVID-19 update, Health Minister Paul Merriman said the overwhelming majority of new cases, hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths are unvaccinated individuals.

“To those who choose to remain unvaccinated – you are prolonging this pandemic. You are making things very difficult for the rest of us,” Merriman said,

Saskatchewan’s chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab said he believes bringing back public health orders to restrict gathering sizes should be “seriously considered”.

“That would address possibly 20 per cent of transmission, especially with a mask mandate and other measures, that could stabilize the curve,” Shahab said.

The province reported 295 individuals hospitalized with the virus with 67 people in ICU. Of the 295 patients, 221 - 75 per cent - were not fully vaccinated.

There are no ICU beds available in the Far North West, Far North Central, Far North East, North West, Central West or South East. The province said these regions have never had ICU capacity.

The new cases are located in the Far North West (22), Far North East (29), North West (48), North Central (36), North East (23), Saskatoon (59), Central West (seven), Central East (27), Regina (47), South West (25), South Central (24) and South East (31) zones and 16 new cases have pending residence details.

In the province, 4,585 cases are considered active, and 540 more recoveries were reported Tuesday.

The seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases is 467, or 38.8 new cases per 100,000 people.

There were 3,548 new reported doses of the COVID-19 vaccine administered in the province.