Saqib Shahab said elective and urgent surgeries are being delayed as resources and staff get redeployed to COVID-19 hospital wards.“We’ve got a billion-dollar health-care system, one of the best … in the world that is not able to do what it is designed to do because it’s dealing with a vaccine-preventable problem,” Shahab said.“It is a tragedy of our times, that being in a very privileged society, we are facing this dilemma.” Saskatchewan woman’s kidney surgery delayed because of COVID-19 Saskatchewan has the highest case rate, and death rate among all provinces, while having the lowest vaccination rate in the country.Data compiled by Health Canada shows Saskatchewan residents are four times more likely to die from COVID-19 than people in.