SHA launches ‘Faces of the Fight’ campaign to help curb continuing spread of COVID-19

It’s now been several months since COVID-19 vaccines have been easily accessible to the general public, however more than a year and a half into the pandemic, health-care workers are still being hit hard by COVID.

To curb the spread of COVID during the province’s fourth wave and to save lives, the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) has launched a campaign called ‘Faces of the Fight‘ to help educate others about vaccinations and following health measures.

SHA says the campaign is a series which features the voices of staff, physicians, volunteers and health care partner agencies.

It adds that the purpose of this effort is to highlight the impact COVID-19 is having on the health-care system by sharing the experiences of front-line health-care workers and others as they work under the unrelenting demands of the pandemic.

Samantha Leason is a registered nurse who is taking part in the series by sharing her story with others.

“Especially during this fourth wave, what I’ve seen is an influx of patients, a lot of really sick patients that are unvaccinated that are needing our help and that’s on top of the already sick people we see on a daily basis,” Leason said.

Leason adds that recently her job has become even more stressful and exhausting due to the increased strain the health-care system has been feeling as hospitalizations of COVID patients reach new records in Saskatchewan.

For the third straight day, Saskatchewan has set a new hospitalization record for COVID-19 patients.

The province reported Tuesday that 340 people were in hospital due to COVID-19, an increase of 15 patients from the previous day.

Of those in hospital, 73 patients were being treated in intensive care.

Officials have said 259 patients — 76 per cent — were not fully vaccinated.

“I used to be able to come home from work and quickly debrief and the day was done, but now I find that we are not only facing COVID at work, we are facing it in our home life as well,” she said.

“We worry about the safety of our loved ones coming home from work.”

Health-care professionals say one of the toughest parts about their job during this pandemic has been conveying clear messaging as the situation continues to evolve.

“The science around the COVID virus and COVID vaccine has been constantly changing every day, every week, every month we have new information coming in,” said Dr. Ibrahim Khan, Regional Medical Health Officer for the First Nations Inuit Health Branch.

Khan has also lent his experience to the series, having worked with First Nations communities in the province, which have been some of the most adversely affected during the pandemic, with low vaccination rates relating to a history of mistrust between First Nations people and Canada’s health-care system.

Khan says making information more accessible is one of the things his team has been working hard on in order to reach more people.

“So, most of these materials are in English, but our communities are trying to translate that into Indigenous languages so that people can then understand,” he said.

Khan adds that elders are being consulted on the COVID information materials being shared.

Both Khan and Leason say there’s still time for those on the fence to get vaccinated in order to help lessen the burden health-care staff all across the province continue to face head-on.

“I guess my message is, it’s not too late. Even if you’re considering it there’s no judgment, I’m not here to scare people,” Leason said.

-With files from Global News’ David Giles