REGINA — Saskatchewan is lifting all of its pandemic public health orders in a phased approach that is to begin Monday with the removal of its COVID-19 vaccine passport policy.
At the end of the month, it also plans to end its indoor mask mandate and the requirement for people to self-isolate if they test positive for the virus.
Premier Scott Moe said Tuesday that providing proof of vaccination to enter businesses, including restaurants, had helped to fight the infection's spread.
But it also created deep divisions in the province, in effect "two classes of citizens," he said.
"The benefits of this policy no longer outweigh the costs," said Moe, who added people should be able to choose whether to get vaccinated.
"This government is going to respect that right."
Dr. Saqib Shahab, chief medical health officer, said COVID-19 measures have created unintended risks on mental health and have stunted the development of children and young adults.
"Now that other activities are picking up, it is going to be essential for normal childhood development," Shahab said.
"It's important they proceed in a way that's a bit different than how we lived in 2019, but is as close to living with COVID-19 as we can."
The province recently shifted to treating COVID-19 like other common respiratory viruses. Shahab said the decision was possible because the Omicron variant is less severe, there's community immunity through vaccines or infections, antiviral treatments are available and the public has access to millions of free rapid tests, he said.
Shahab said most people in Saskatchewan who get Omicron have a mild illness for five to seven days and the illness goes away on its own. Those who are at highest risk of hospitalization or severe illness include the unvaccinated.
Shahab said boosters decrease the risk of hospitalization, especially if people are older or have underlying risk factors. On Tuesday, the province approved booster shots for youth between 12 and 17 years old.
In Saskatchewan, unvaccinated people are four times more likely to end up in hospital than those with a booster shot, or three times more likely to end up in hospital compared with those with no booster shot.
Last week, Canada's chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, cautioned that two doses of vaccine offer little protection against infection from Omicron, and boosters against transmission only work for a period of time.
Other provinces have said they are also looking at lifting COVID-19 measures. Prince Edward Island Premier Dennis King announced Tuesday a three-step plan that would see an end to most restrictions around April 7.
Alberta was to hold a news conference later Tuesday, while Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec said they are prepared to loosen restrictions in the coming weeks.
Despite Shahab saying the province is on the right trajectory to lift measures, critics have called for them to remain in place. The Saskatchewan Federation of Labour said Omicron still presents a risk to workers.
NDP Opposition Leader Ryan Meili said it's hard to trust Moe is making the right choices, "because we have the pattern of a premier who chose to remove public health measures (in the past) that put people at risk, that resulted in avoidable deaths."
Moe said the province needs to patch up the divisions COVID-19 measures have caused and to move forward together.
Quoting Winston Churchill's “Their Finest Hour” speech from 1940 Moe said: "If we open a quarrel between the past and the present we shall find that we have lost the future.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 8, 2022.
Mickey Djuric, The Canadian Press
