Saskatoon Tribal Council to administer 330 extra AstraZeneca vaccines daily to walk-ins next week

The Saskatoon Tribal Council (STC) says it will be administering more vaccines at the Indigenous-led immunization site at SaskTel Centre. The tribal council will be giving out 2,000 extra AstraZeneca-Oxford doses starting Monday.

"The chiefs of the Saskatoon Tribal Council have fully endorsed the extra doses at our clinic here and are making sure we are doing it for the right reasons, and that's to help people," said Tribal Chief, Mark Arcand. 

Arcand said at a news conference Friday that the STC got a call from Indigenous Services Canada asking them if it would want to help give out vaccines. STC obliged and agreed to give out 2,000 extra AstraZeneca doses from Monday, May 3, until Saturday, May 8.

The first walk-in will be available at 9 a.m. CST Monday and the last will be at 3:50 p.m. The AstraZeneca vaccine will be given to the first 330 walk-ins each day, with an average of eight people vaccinated every ten minutes.

The vaccines are available for anyone currently eligible to receive a dose in the province. This means anyone 40 or older as of Friday. Teachers, police officers, fire fighters, correctional workers and probation officers have also been added to the province's list. Proof of employment such as a pay stub is all they need to get vaccinated.

Meanwhile, Pfizer vaccines will be given by appointment. Based on the available doses, STC currently serves an average of 200 people daily for appointments. These new vaccines are being provided by Indigenous Services Canada and approved by Health Canada.

STC says it is dedicated to ensuring that the vaccination process is stress-free. Apart from making provisions for parking, they will also be cultural accommodations.

"We have smudging opportunities for anyone that's interested," he said. "We also give them a gift box when they leave. The gift box comes with hand sanitizer, cleaning liquids and face mask."  

According to Arcand, STC has vaccinated 3,800 people out of the 13,000 people who have registered for appointments so far. They hope these walk-ins will reduce the number of pending appointments.