Riders tickets, scholarships among incentives Sask. NDP suggests to help boost vaccination rates
NDP opposition leader Ryan Meili is calling on the Saskatchewan Party to revisit its position on vaccine incentives.
“We need a government that's willing even to start the conversation. What’s going to actually work to incentivize people?,” said Sasksatchewan NDP leader Ryan Meili.
Saskatchewan is closing in on third and final vaccination target of the provincial government's reopening road map.
As of Monday, 69 per cent of Saskatchewan residents 18 years and older have received their first dose – one per cent shy of the 70 per cent threshold for Step Three of the plan.
University of Saskatchewan professor of epidemiology Cory Neudorf feels the province is moving too fast.
He would be more comfortable with a target of 80 to 85 per cent of the population. His model also includes children under 12, while the province’s current reopening strategy doesn’t.
“The concern is if the numbers haven’t increased higher than that 70 per cent by the time the fall hits than we’re really open to a fourth wave hitting.”
The NDP is proposing a “Last Mile Strategy,” which includes a vaccine lottery and other prizes like scholarships or Saskatchewan Roughriders tickets. The official opposition also has other elements which they feel could spur vaccine uptake, including a $25,000 vaccine lottery.
We need to be doing a better job coordinating, booking vaccines. Making it easier for people to get that vaccine,” said Meili. “Returning to that initial approach where seniors, healthcare providers, getting that phone call saying it’s time for you to get that vaccine.”
Both of Saskatchewan's neighbour provinces are running vaccine lotteries. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney announced a lottery over the weekend.
However, Ken Coates, a public policy professor with the University of Saskatchewan, questions if a lottery would work.
“It won’t get us as far as we really want to go, perhaps even need to go. But it is better than standing still and having people just lecture individuals and say please just go get a vaccine?”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Alice Munro, Nobel literature winner revered as short story master, dead at 92
Nobel laureate Alice Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world's most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history's most honoured short story writers, has died at age 92.
Latest updates on air quality alerts, and when the smoke may reach Ontario and Quebec
Wildfires have led Environment Canada to issue air quality advisories for parts of B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, as forecasters warn the smoke could drift farther east.
Are these Canada's best restaurants? Annual top 100 list revealed
The annual list of Canada's top restaurants in the country was just released and here are the places that made the 2024 cut.
Attack on prison van in France kills 2 officers, inmate escapes
Armed assailants killed two French prison officers and seriously wounded three others in an attack on a convoy in Normandy on Tuesday and an inmate escaped, officials said.
Steal a car, lose your driver's licence for 10 years under new Ontario proposal
Repeat car thieves may face lengthy licence bans under proposed changes to Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act.
$1.6B parts plant for Honda electric vehicle batteries coming to Niagara Region
A Japanese company has announced it will build an approximately $1.6-billion plant in Ontario's Niagara Region that will make a key electric vehicle battery component as part of Honda's supply chain in the province.
B.C. brings in law on name changes on day that child killer's new identity revealed
The BC NDP have tabled legislation aimed at stopping people who have committed certain heinous acts from changing their names.
Manitoba premier to visit areas impacted by wildfire
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew will get a close-up look at the devastation from a large wildfire burning in northern Manitoba Tuesday.
1 killed, 3 injured including toddler, after Hwy. 417 crash in Ottawa
Ontario Provincial Police are responding to a fatal collision involving two vehicles on Highway 417 in Ottawa's west end on Tuesday morning.