COVID-19 Moderna vaccine to arrive in Saskatchewan next week

Now that Health Canada has approved the Moderna vaccine for COVID-19, more Saskatchewan residents will soon have opportunities to get vaccinated.

The province is expecting to receive nearly 5,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine next week.

"The approval of the Moderna vaccine means more high-risk Saskatchewan residents will be able to be immunized against COVID-19," Health Minister Paul Merriman said in a news release. "This vaccine allows us to continue with our Phase 1 plans to target residents where they are living and working, whether in long-term care and personal care homes, in northern and remote communities, and in health-care staff outside our major centres."

Unlike the Pfizer-BioNTechvaccine, the Moderna vaccine does not need to be refrigerated at ultra-cold temperatures, so it can more easily be transported throughout the province.

As part of Saskatchewan's vaccine delivery plan, the Moderna vaccine will be targeted to those who live in long-term care homes, front-line health-care workers, residents 80 years and older, and residents 50 years and older living in northern and remote communities.

It requires two doses28 days apartand is approved for people 18 and older.

As of Dec. 22, more than 1,500 health care workers in Regina had been vaccinated for COVID-19.