Saskatoon's Prairieland Park sees 'significant' wait times as COVID-19 booster eligibility expands
People are facing "significant" wait times for a second COVID-19 booster shot at Prairieland Park as the age eligibility continues to expand in Saskatchewan.
On Tuesday eligibility for a second dose expanded to those 50 and older.
The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) told CTV News all appointments were booked for Wednesday and Thursday and there was a wait time of 2.5 hours for drop-in appointments.
The SHA posted on Twitter that due to “significant wait times” for walk-ins, it temporarily closed the line at Prairieland Park at 1:40 p.m. on Wednesday.
The SHA says it usually books more than 500 appointments a day at Prairieland Park and more than 94 per cent of Friday appointments were booked by noon Wednesday.
In an email to CTV News, the Ministry of Health says there is no plan to return to mass immunization clinics and no plan to lower the age limit eligibility.
Michael Fougere, CEO of the Pharmacy Association of Saskatchewan, says because of the increased eligibility, pharmacies are also seeing an uptake in appointments.
“Pharmacists do a lot more than just give vaccines, so there are times when there are slots for appointments and then those are being filled immediately,” Fougere said.
Fougere says pharmacies were also given a short turnaround time in order to prepare and more lead time would have been better.
“When we see these age eligibility changes for vaccines, pharmacies will do what they always do, which is to respond as quickly as possible to keep people safe and make sure patients get the best care possible.”
DO YOU NEED A SECOND BOOSTER SHOT?
University of Saskatchewan epidemiologist Nazeem Muhajarine says getting a second COVID-19 booster shot is a good idea with two variants of Omicron in the province.
“COVID-19 has not gone away from this province, it has not gone away from Canada, it’s very much among us even though we are gradually learning to live with it,” Muhajarine told CTV News.
With the province no longer giving daily COVID-19 updates, Muhajarine says residents are “almost in the dark because there’s no good data for us to be informed.”
He says data coming out of Israel shows a second booster dose lowers a person's risk of getting COVID-19 by twice as much, compared to having just one booster shot.
Muhajarine says getting a second booster dose protects a person more in terms of preventing death, hospitalizations, emergency department and urgent care and getting infected with COVID-19.
“Those who’ve had their first booster, their immune neutralizing antibodies are waning after about five months,” he said.
People who have already had COVID-19 have hybrid immunity and are “well protected,” Muhajarine says.
“If they are healthy and young, they could wait actually to be quite honest from getting that second booster because the data doesn't show that a second booster is particularly effective for them,” he said.
He says one in 10 people are likely to get reinfected with COVID-19 and if you don’t want to be one of those people, a second booster could protect you.
The SHA recommends checking their website regularly as appointments are sometimes canceled and spots open up. Walk-ins are also available every day at Prairieland Park but wait times will vary.
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