Vaccination rate is 6 times higher in Indigenous communities than in general population - CBC.ca | Canada News Media
Connect with us

Business

Vaccination rate is 6 times higher in Indigenous communities than in general population – CBC.ca

Published

 on


Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller says the nationwide push to prioritize First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities for the COVID-19 vaccine is starting to bear fruit, and that vaccination rates in those communities are now significantly higher than those reported elsewhere.

According to the latest data, more than 83,000 doses have been administered so far in more than 400 Indigenous communities.

Twenty-five per cent of adults in these communities have received at least one shot — a rate six times higher than the one for the general population.

Miller said he expects most Indigenous adults to be vaccinated before the rest of the population — a goal, he added, that is rooted in science.

“It’s what we want,” Miller said, adding the territories and B.C. are on track to vaccinate 75 per cent of Indigenous adults by the end of March. The rest of the country isn’t expected to reach that milestone until sometime this summer.

Other provinces, notably Ontario, have also released vaccination schedules that prioritize Indigenous peoples in the next phase of the inoculation campaign, which is expected to being next month as vaccine supplies start to stabilize.

“We continue to see progress that brings us hope,” Miller said, adding that the Indigenous vaccination campaign is being complicated by “huge logistical challenges” in isolated parts of the country. “The end of the tunnel is there but there’s still a whole chunk of tunnel left.”

WATCH: Miller says vaccination rates are higher in Indigenous communities

Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller says the vaccination rate in Indigenous communities is 6 times higher than in the general population. 2:00

There’s an urgent need to vaccinate Indigenous communities quickly because fast-spreading new variants of COVID-19 could be particularly deadly in communities where the housing stock is poor and multi-generational living is common, the minister said.

Miller said the federal government is working with local leaders to create more isolation space to keep positive cases apart.

Dozens of troops arrive on the Shamattawa First Nation in Manitoba on Sunday, Dec. 13, 2020 to help local authorities fight a COVID-19 outbreak. (Tyson Koschik/CBC)

Provincial and territorial governments have been directing doses to northern and remote communities and urban Indigenous populations in an effort to protect a group that the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) has identified as particularly vulnerable to COVID-19.

NACI has said that shots in the early phases of the vaccine rollout should be directed at long-term care home residents and the staff caring for them — but also at Indigenous adults because they face an elevated risk of death and “societal disruption” from COVID-19.

Urban Indigenous population especially vulnerable: NACI

While the initial batch of shots has been largely administered in First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities, NACI said there should now be a greater push to cover urban Indigenous individuals who may be even more vulnerable. NACI said early data suggest off-reserve First Nations members are more likely to be hospitalized and die than those living on reserves.

Miller has pointed to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that show Native Americans are 3.5 to 5 times more likely to develop severe health complications from COVID-19.

“The science is saying priority needs to be given to Indigenous communities,” he said, noting that many people face substandard living conditions that make them more susceptible to infection.

While Indigenous communities performed well during the first phase of the pandemic, with lower incidents of COVID-19 cases, the second phase has been more challenging.

“Attack rates and mortality rates in First Nations communities are now higher when compared to the overall Canadian population,” NACI wrote in its latest update, published Sunday.

Indigenous individuals are also more likely to have other health troubles that could make a bout of COVID-19 more deadly.

“The proportion of Canadians who identify as Indigenous and have at least one underlying medical condition associated with an increased risk of severe COVID-19 is higher compared to other Canadians for every age category above 20 years of age,” NACI wrote.

Minister of Indigenous Services Marc Miller. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)

Miller urged provincial leaders to stay the course with Indigenous vaccination plans, even if political pressure mounts from other constituents to redirect the doses elsewhere.

“The apprehension with who gets what first is fuelled by concerns about volume and timing. You can see scenarios where people say, ‘How come not me?’ and that gets further fuelled by the worst platforms out there — social media tending to be one of them,” Miller said.

Canadians should have an “immense amount of pride” in the fact that vulnerable groups are at the front of the line because it affirms the country’s commitment to equity in health care, Miller said.

Dr. Tom Wong, chief medical officer at Indigenous Services Canada, said it’s too early to tell if the ambitious vaccine campaign has reduced rates of infection.

He said the number of people who have been fully vaccinated with a two-dose regime is still quite low — less than 5 per cent — but he said he expects immunity to build in the coming weeks as the rollout ramps up.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)



Source link

Continue Reading

Business

Roots sees room for expansion in activewear, reports $5.2M Q2 loss and sales drop

Published

 on

 

TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.

The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.

“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.

The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.

But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.

Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.

“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.

“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”

Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.

The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.

In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.

Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.

The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.

The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.

Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.

Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.

It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.

Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.

Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:ROOT)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Source link

Continue Reading

Business

Talks on today over HandyDART strike affecting vulnerable people in Metro Vancouver

Published

 on

 

VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.

No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.

About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.

Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.

Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.

A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Source link

Continue Reading

Business

Transat AT reports $39.9M Q3 loss compared with $57.3M profit a year earlier

Published

 on

 

MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.

The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.

The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.

Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.

On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.

Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:TRZ)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Source link

Continue Reading

Trending

Exit mobile version