Saskatchewan will be ending all COVID-19 restrictions, including vaccine passports and proof of negative test requirements “very soon,” the premier says.
“Our caucus MLAs are hearing this from the people that they are talking to across the province, and the people that they ultimately represent: People are asking their government for a return to normal—a removal of public health restrictions—and we most certainly are looking at how we can do that in the weeks ahead here in Saskatchewan,” said Moe.
The majority support for ending restrictions was shared across almost every region in the country except for Atlantic Canada. Saskatchewan had the highest support at 62 percent, with residents saying it’s time now to open things up and let people self-isolate if they’re at risk.
https://twitter.com/PremierScottMoe/status/1488214182352670721
Moe said it is time to listen to the public after people have dutifully followed COVID-19 restrictions for more than two years.
“Now I think that in fairness, it is time for us as a government to do what Saskatchewan people are asking for,” he said at the press conference, adding that public health officials will be advising the government on how to proceed with a “living with COVID” strategy.
The premier said that as COVID-19 vaccines no longer reduce the transmission of the Omicron variant, the vaccine requirement program in his province will no longer be needed in the very near future.
He noted 78 percent of new COVID-19 cases in the province over the past week occurred among fully vaccinated individuals.
“The bottom line of all of this is that vaccines do work, but they are no longer working at preventing transmission in this wave of COVID-19 like they previously did in the Delta wave at which they were quite effective,” he said.
“That is why the proof of vaccination or the proof of negative test requirement that we have in Saskatchewan will very soon come to an end.”