Saskatchewan health minister Paul Merriman is standing by his comments made on Wednesday, saying the province was told to hold back on distributing the second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine.
His position on the issue comes despite Public Health Agency of Canada telling Global News Friday otherwise.
“There is no requirement from the federal government to hold back the second dose in the vaccine series,” Public Health Agency of Canada said in an emailed statement.
“However, Health Canada recommends that Canadians receive both doses of the same vaccine, as close as possible to the authorized dosing regimen for each vaccine.”
Merriman told reporters on Friday that he was following instruction from the feds and wasn’t trying to blame the government.
“I confirmed with my officials that instructions and advice were received from the Public Health Agency of Canada on Dec. 9 to, quote, ‘always save half of the doses in order to ensure that you have enough to administer the second dose,’” Merriman said.
“And another quote ‘to ensure a reserve of the second dose. For the second and third weeks of the initial vaccine delivery.’ Saskatchewan public health officials took this instruction seriously and so did I.”
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Saskatchewan lifted its restriction on distributing second doses on Wednesday although Canada’s public health agency said it had no control over the province’s decision to restrict.
“Provincial and territorial governments will have to determine the best way to manage supply based on their own analyses and logistics,” Public Health Agency of Canada said.
The Saskatchewan government administered more than 1,200 vaccinations on Thursday, its largest daily total to date, according to Merriman.
The vaccine was delivered to Regina, Saskatoon, Prince Albert and several communities in the province’s far north. The vaccine will also be delivered to Melfort and La Ronge this week, Merriman said.
He said the province is receiving 500 Moderna vaccines next week.