There has been some good news for Saskatchewan in terms of COVID-19 lately. Not quite a month ago there were over 4000 active cases in the province, and entering today there are 2254, so the downward trend has been good. There has also been a downward trend in something else, however, that has vexed the province to no end. 

Vaccinations, which at one time were proceeding at a pace near the top of the country on a per-capita basis, have slowed down so dramatically they've almost halted. In fact, the province has not vaccinated more than 200 people any day this week so far. On Monday, they announced they had vaccinated just 88 people. 

"Our healthcare workers have been doing a great job, and I thank them," said Premier Scott Moe. "They've been doing a great job of ensuring they are getting needles into the arms of people in this province as quickly as possible. But those efforts have pretty much ground to a standstill today and in recent days."

Saskatchewan went over a week without any new shipments of vaccines before yesterday, when 2925 doses of Pfizer's vaccine arrived in Saskatoon and Prince Albert. There are also supposed to be another 2925 doses to be split between Yorkton and North Battleford before the end of the week. 

"The provinces have also been advised that the next shipment of Moderna vaccines," the Premier said, "scheduled for the last week of February, will now also be reduced. We are not aware of what the level of reduction will be as of yet. So while it's good to say we are starting to again receive some vaccines, they are still very small numbers."

Under the province's vaccine rollout plan, first laid down in December, phase one calls for vaccination of long-term care home residents and staff as well as frontline healthcare professionals dealing directly with COVID-19 patients and people over the age of 70. That, according to the Premier, means 190,000 people or 380,000 doses of vaccine as each one requires two shots. 

"So far, we have received under ten percent of that amount," he said. "This week's shipments will bump that number to about twelve percent of our phase one target, so we have a long way to go just to get through phase one. We need more vaccines, and we need them more quickly." 

Premier Moe also added the provincial government would like to see more vaccines approved for a greater variety of supplies to draw from.