Some First Nations communities in northern Manitoba are among the first to receive doses of a COVID-19 vaccine in the province.
A virtual news conference was hosted on Tuesday by the Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO), which represents 26 First Nations in the province, to provide updates on the vaccine doses that had arrived in some remote communities.
“This is a turning point,” MKO Grand Chief Garrison Settee said. “It brings a sense of hope, a sense of optimism to our First Nations. This is what we advocated for that our people would be considered when the vaccines were being distributed nationwide. Our chiefs advocated to make sure that our people were considered and were not marginalized and now this is happening.”
Canada has approved both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines for use across the country. Both federal and provincial governments identified First Nations people as being in a priority group to be among the first to receive the vaccines.
As of yesterday, seven First Nations in northern Manitoba had received some Moderna doses to distribute in their communities.
“It is a complex process, nevertheless we must continue to work so that people can have access to the vaccine that will ultimately save lives and bring change in the status quo,” Settee said.
“Since the pandemic began, we always knew that we were the most vulnerable,” he said. “Our First Nations were most at risks. As we move forward we want to see our people being well, being healthy and this is a part of that process.”
Norway House Cree Nation Chief Larson Anderson said 90 Elders in his community have been vaccinated so far.
“We were quite fortunate that the federal government earmarked some of those vaccines directly to the First Nations,” he said. “Thank you to the federal government for that.”
Anderson said community officials are doing their best to promote the benefits of vaccination to members in their First Nation.
“We’re trying to assure them the vaccine is quite safe and that it’s going to help,” Anderson said. “We’re promoting the vaccine as best as we could so people can feel safe that if they take it. It’s going to help them.”
York Factory First Nation Chief Leroy Constant said his community has received 20 vaccine doses so far.
“We’re finally seeing some light at the end of the tunnel here where the vaccination rollouts are occurring,” he said.
Constant added an educational process on the vaccines is also continuing in his community.
“The challenge for not only us as a people but, I guess, with society in general is that there is a lot of fear behind it,” he said.
Constant said many Indigenous people are questioning why they are among the first to receive doses.
“The fear is why are they giving it to First Nations people first,” he said. “Why do we have to be the first ones to try it? Well, because simply we are the most at risk.”
Constant said his First Nation had seven of its members test positive for the COVID-19 virus last September.
Contract tracing then found those seven individuals had been in contact with a total of 96 people in the First Nation, which has 470 members.
Dr. Michael Routledge, a medical advisor for MKO, also attended Tuesday’s news conference.
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He said data accumulated over the past year found COVID is disproportionately impacting those in MKO communities.
Routledge said this information was not surprising since remote communities often lack the proper infrastructure to fight the pandemic.
He said data collected undoubtedly played a role in having government officials designate First Nations people into a priority group to receive the vaccine early on.
“It’s exciting to be at this point now where we’re starting to see that rollout,” Routledge said.
Pimicikamak Cree Nation Chief David Monias said the first batch (200) of vaccine doses arrived in his community on Jan. 7.
Those aged 70 and over, as well as health care staff, in the community were scheduled to receive the vaccine first.
Monias said some Elders who were not on the list to receive the vaccine on the first night that it was available showed up to see if they could get it.
“That was a good sign that people were coming forward because of all the negativity about the vaccine that they’re testing it on us and so forth,” Monias said. “That kind of removed all that notion that this is not a good thing.”
Monias was thrilled the majority of Elders in his community are very willing to receive the vaccine.
“Our Elders have always been our traditional teachers,” he said. “They teach us customs and they sacrificed a lot of stuff throughout our lives. And they stepped up to be the first and to show that this is a good thing and to show that it’s safe and that people should be vaccinated. That speaks volumes to them showing up.”
Monias said having a vaccine available now is encouraging as it signals the pandemic could indeed be ending at some point.
“This is the light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. “We are not only just looking at the light at the end of the tunnel, we are actually stepping into the light.”
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
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