The vaccination drive in northern First Nation communities is well ahead of schedule, says Weeneebayko Area Health Authority’s (WAHA) president.
A total of 3,481 vaccines were administered in the region so far, according to WAHA’s CEO and president Lynne Innes.
“We’re all very happy and excited with the accelerated rollout and the success we’ve had,” she said.
The phased vaccine rollout along the James Bay and Hudson Bay coast started on Jan. 8. First Nation communities are receiving the Moderna vaccine.
Mass immunization clinics are taking place in Moosonee this week.
WAHA will start administering the second dose of the vaccine starting in Peawanuck on Tuesday, Feb. 23.
Innes said the goal is to have at least 70 per cent of community members vaccinated with both doses.
“We’ve been able to accelerate the rollout. We’re finished two weeks ahead of schedule to account for the upcoming spring goose hunt as well as the pending flood season,” she said.
“It happens in our region every year. The calendar changes for the spring and fall goose hunt. It’s a custom to our culture and our tradition here, so we absolutely had that incorporated in our plan and we also had advocacy from local chiefs to ensure that everybody was vaccinated with their second dose by the time the spring goose hunt started.”
Since mass community vaccinations were initiated, eight healthcare workers and 72 community members have been vaccinated in Peawanuck.
There was a big turnout in Kashechewan First Nation where 11 healthcare workers and 731 community members were vaccinated. According to the chief, 73 per cent of people over the age of 18 were vaccinated in Kashechewan over the course of three days.
Fort Albany saw 339 community members and 12 healthcare workers vaccinated. In Attawapiskat, nine healthcare workers and 729 community members rolled up their sleeves for the vaccine.
In Moosonee, 141 community members and nine healthcare workers received the vaccine, while in Moose Factory 520 community members and 36 healthcare workers got vaccinated.
There were also 285 WAHA healthcare workers who received the vaccine.
Innes said WAHA is happy with the turnout and will continue working with ORNGE and the province to secure additional supplies if people change their minds and want to get vaccinated.
“All of the communities have exceeded our expectations. Given some of the discussions and surveys we’ve had, we were only expecting a 30 per cent vaccination rate but we’ve almost been able to hit at least 50 per cent and as high as 94 per cent in some of our communities,” Innes said.
