Sask. government says 45 per cent of eligible population fully vaccinated against COVID-19; reports 21 new cases

REGINA -

Forty-five per cent of Saskatchewan residents age 12 and older now have two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the provincial government.

In a press release, the government added 71 per cent of people 12 and older have their first shot.

Health-care workers have administered an additional 20,981 vaccine doses. As of Friday, 728,161 people have their first shot and 466,375 people are fully vaccinated.

All residents age 12 and old are eligible to get the first dose of the vaccine and the second dose after 28 days.

COVID-19 IN SASK.

The province reported 21 new cases Friday; along with 36 recoveries and no additional deaths.

The new cases are in the Far Northwest (five); Far North Central (one); Northwest (one); North Central (one); Saskatoon (four); Central East (one); Regina (seven); and Southwest (one) zones.

COVID-19 cases continue to trend downwards; there are 405 active cases across the province, the lowest number since Oct. 19, 2020.

The seven-day average of daily new cases is 38.

There are 57 COVID-19 patients in hospital across the province; 12 of the patients are in the ICU in the Northwest (two); North Central (two); Saskatoon (five); and Regina (three) zones.

VARIANTS OF CONCERN

The province said labs have identified an additional 26 COVID-19 cases to be variants of concern, bringing the total number of variant cases in the province to 12,175.

Of the 7,242 variant cases confirmed through whole genome sequencing, 6,675 are Alpha (B.1.1.7), 348 are Gamma (P.1), 209 are Delta (B.1.617.2) and 10 are Beta (B.1.351).