Veronica Apetagon receives the Moderna vaccine as doses arrived in Norway House Cree Nation in Manitoba on Jan. 7, 2021.The Canadian Press
More First Nations priority groups have been identified to receive doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in Manitoba as Indigenous people in the province continue to face disproportionate rates of infection, hospitalization and death.
Traditional healers and knowledge keepers, health care workers in non-remote First Nations communities in direct contact with patients, and First Nations isolation workers will have access to the Moderna vaccine starting next week in pop-up inoculation sites in Winnipeg, Thompson, The Pas and Flin Flon.
Marcia Anderson, the public health lead for the Manitoba First Nations COVID-19 Pandemic Response Coordination Team (PRCT) and a member of the province’s vaccine task force, said at a press conference on Monday that the two groups agreed to allocate an additional 1,200 doses of the Moderna vaccine for new priority groups from the province’s supply.
Dr. Anderson said ensuring First Nations people have equitable access to the vaccine will protect the most vulnerable and prevent the health care system from being overwhelmed.
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The pandemic response team, which has been collecting COVID-19 data on First Nations people living on and off reserve since the pandemic started, reported more than 700 new cases last week, making up about 70 per cent of all active cases in the province. Those numbers fluctuate between on and off reserve members weekly and monthly, Dr. Anderson said, highlighting the overcrowded housing and inequitable access to health care that exists for First Nations in remote and urban communities.
First Nations people make up about 10 per cent of Manitoba’s population.
The PRCT’s Facebook page says 50 per cent of hospitalizations and ICU admissions for COVID-19 are First Nations people. Further, those individuals are experiencing severe outcomes 17 to 20 years younger than non-First Nations patients. Dr. Anderson said, for example, a 65-year-old First Nations person has the same risks as an 80-year old non-First Nations person. That’s because poorer health outcomes from colonialism and systemic racism leave First Nations people at higher risk, Dr. Anderson said.
“We will address this by ensuring younger First Nations people have access to the vaccine sooner to address the higher risk to First Nations people,” Dr. Anderson said.
That means, for example, a 60-year-old First Nations person will be eligible to receive the vaccine at the same time as 80-year-olds in the rest of the population when the province’s Stage 2 of the vaccine program begins.
Manitoba has so far allocated 5,300 vaccine doses that have been delivered to 63 First Nations for health care workers in remote and isolated communities, residents and staff of personal care homes, and those over age 60 in remote communities and over 70 in non-remote communities (with road access). Another 5,300 doses are expected in mid- to late-February.
Dr. Anderson said uptake of the vaccine in First Nations has been mostly positive so far, and that health care workers and elders have been leading the way, adding that First Nations-led information campaigns have also helped alleviate any vaccine hesitancy.
Meanwhile in Northern Ontario, some First Nations leaders were among the first to roll up their sleeves as they try to help reduce fears and concerns from members about the Moderna vaccine that is being delivered to 31 remote communities by Ornge vaccination teams in Operation Remote Immunity.
On Monday, NDP MPP Sol Mamakwa and Neskantaga First Nation Chief Chris Moonias were among the first to get vaccinated, after few people signed up, according to a press release from the Ontario NDP.
Chief Moonias said it’s their responsibility to lead by example.
“There’s a lot of misinformation about the vaccine out there, and I worry we’ll have low vaccination rates in our communities because of this,” he said.
Manitoba began to ease up its restrictions over a week ago, except for the northern region where high rates of community transmission and outbreaks continued, opening up retail stores for non-essential items and hair salons, and allowing households up to two designated guests.
However on Monday, Chief Provincial Public Health Officer Dr. Brent Roussin said the province’s targeted approach to lifting restrictions missed the mark when the northern health region wasn’t included. He says this caused a significant increase in travel from the northern communities into Winnipeg especially, to shop for non-essential items. That essentials-only shopping order for the northern region is now being lifted in hopes it will reduce travel from the northern communities.
Dr. Roussin said a lot of work and collaboration is being done among First Nations leaders, health care experts, and provincial partners to get COVID-19 cases down to allow them to move ahead with a “slow and cautious reopening” in the north and rest of the province.
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