Monday afternoon, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe reiterated that the provincial government will not be imposing a province-wide COVID-19 vaccine mandate, nor any new masks mandates or other restrictive health measures as the province deals with a fourth wave of the virus. However, he pointed out that the roughly 700,000 Saskatchewan residents who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 are not the source of the rising cases in the province.

“Unfortunately, that are still far too many people in Saskatchewan, just over 300,000 residents, who are not yet fully vaccinated and that is what is driving our fourth wave of COVID in our province,” Moe said during the press conference.

“Getting vaccinated is a personal choice, yes, and it will remain a personal choice, but you need to understand that that choice does have an impact on others,” Moe added.

While the provincial government will not be imposing a province-wide mandate, they will be providing supports for businesses and events such as concerts and sporting events if they choose to implement a mandate for vaccination or negative COVID-19 testing. The Saskatchewan Roughriders made that announcement Monday morning, and a number of concerts coming to the province have already made similar rules for those willing to attend.

Moe pointed out that the MySaskHealthRecords website allows for the printing of the COVID-19 vaccination record, and it is also possible to have a screenshot of the record saved on a mobile device.

“We’re also in the process of converting that information into a QR code so that it can be scanned to provide your personal vaccination status if you should so choose, and that should be available sometime in mid-September,” Moe explained during the press conference.

In terms of provincial government employees in the healthcare sector, Moe said they have been encouraging them to get a COVID-19 vaccination. However, they are looking at potentially going further, starting with Tier 1 and Tier 2 healthcare employees.

“In the coming days we’ll be reaching out to the various labour organizations that represent these specific healthcare workers so that we may move forward on a required proof of vaccinations or a proof of a negative test policy for those particular workers,” Moe added. “This is to better protect their co-workers, themselves as well as others they may come into contact with throughout their day.”

There are also plans to increase access to rapid testing supplies in the province, particularly for large employers.