A shipment of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine could be coming to Saskatchewan.
“We do have lots of options. I do encourage people to get vaccinated,” said Saskatchewan Health Minister Paul Merriman.
During a scrum after Monday’s Question Period, Merriman said for those who are uncomfortable with the AstraZeneca, Moderna or Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines, there could be another alternative coming.
“There’s been lots of requests for Johnson & Johnson and we are working on getting them in from the federal government,” said Merriman. “We have asked for an allotment of Johnson & Johnson as well as Alberta has.”
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Johnson & Johnson, which only requires a single dose rather than two, was approved by Canada in March of this year. Merriman is hoping the province will receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccines by the end of the month.
“To be able to get those people that might prefer that one shot versus having a double dose,” he said.
The Saskatchewan Ministry of Health provided a statement to Global News on Tuesday afternoon.
“The federal government has allocated an initial supply of 2,500 single-dose Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) vaccines for use in Saskatchewan’s COVID-19 vaccination rollout,” read the statement.
“Details on when these doses will arrive in the province are still being determined and will be announced publicly once known.”
-With a file from Thomas Piller