Although COVID-19 boosters greatly decrease the risk of serious outcomes from the illness, less than 50 per cent of Saskatchewan's population is up-to-date with their vaccines.
That's according to the latest Community Respiratory Illness Surveillance Program (CRISP) report issued by the Saskatchewan Government on Thursday.
According to the report, having a booster within the last six months cuts the risk of death from COVID-19 by eight times when compared to unvaccinated people and four times when compared to people without a recent booster dose.
Regina has the highest percentage of those who are fully up-to-date with their COVID-19 vaccines, around 52 per cent. Saskatoon has the second-highest rate, sitting at just over 49 per cent.
The overall rate of people fully up-to-date on their COVID-19 vaccines in Saskatchewan is 46 per cent.
According to the CRISP report, there were about 200 confirmed COVID-19 cases weekly, with eight outbreaks reported in "high-risk settings" between Feb. 12 and Feb. 25, the period covered in the report.
Hospitalizations related to COVID-19 dropped from 153 to 122, while ICU admissions rose from nine to 11. Seven peopled died from the illness, all of whom were 60 years or older, according to the report. As was the case during the previous reporting period, there were no influenza-related deaths.
Additionally, there were no influenza-related ICU admissions during the Feb. 12 to Feb. 25 reporting period.
According to the province, just 47 per cent of people over the age of 50 have had more than one COVID-19 vaccine booster dose.
The number of people who have received a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine booster dose also continues to lag.
Only 20 per cent of Saskatchewan residents over the age of 12 have received the dose tailor-made to defend against the Omicron variant of COVID-19, which is behind nearly all of the province's confirmed COVID-19 cases.
The province saw a drop in Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), according to the report, but with a "high" test-positivity at just over 12 per cent — with more than half the of the cases detected in preschool-aged children.
