COVID-19 Daily News Digest – January 7, 2021
Eight Vancouver Island Health region First Nations share 1,900 doses of COVID-19 vaccine
Health authorities had announced earlier that 10,700 doses of Moderna will be been made available for rural and remote First Nations communities in the province.
To date, 5,300 of those Moderna doses have been distributed to 18 rural and remote First Nations communities in B.C. Most health authorities received the vaccines between Dec. 28 and 31 as there was a delay in the initial Moderna shipment.
Roll with the punches’: Indigenous business owners in B.C. reflect on COVID-19
Instead, they focused all their efforts on promoting kayaking – which could be easily physically distanced in one-seater or two-seater kayaks.
“We were able to survive the entire season based on our kayak rentals and a few different grants from Indigenous Tourism BC and our national partner, Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada.”
He said the company saw an increase of more than 50 per cent in kayak bookings across its two locations at Cates Park and Belcarra Regional Park over the summer, putting it down to more people wanting to get outdoors after the lockdown to enjoy the outdoors and nature.
Virtual clinic gives health care access to Alberta’s isolated Indigenous communities
Dr. Esther Tailfeathers, a community family physician with the Blood Tribe Department of Health and one of the doctors working on the clinic, says the clinic will help patients who have had issues accessing primary care.
Community members would have to travel two hours or more by gravel road to get to a clinic or hospital, Tailfeathers said.
This access issue has become even more pressing during the COVID-19 pandemic, with those barriers compounded by public health guidelines against travel.
“When COVID hit, there were a number of Indigenous communities that had to completely shut down letting people come in and out,” Tailfeathers told CBC’s Edmonton AM on Tuesday. “Therefore doctors and nurses weren’t able to come in and out.”
Eight Island Health region First Nations share 1,900 doses of COVID-19 vaccine
Vaccination drives have been underway in most First Nations communities since Monday, with many leaders stepping up to take the first doses of the vaccines to ease concerns of vaccine-averse members.
The First Nations are receiving the Moderna vaccine because the first approved COVID-19 vaccines in Canada – the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine – requires subfreezing temperatures for storage (-70) challenging transportation and storage logistics to remote communities.
Kitigan Zibi chief calls on Quebec to prioritize COVID-19 vaccinations in First Nations
‘There is absolutely no mention of First Nations people, which is scary for myself as a leader of my community,” said Whiteduck.
“I think other First Nations across Quebec should be worried about this as well.”
Whiteduck issued an open letter to federal Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller as well as Quebec ministers for health and Indigenous affairs, seeking 4,000 vaccine doses as soon as possible for his community, which is located about 120 kilometres north of Ottawa.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/kitigan-zibi-covid-19-vaccine-quebec-1.5863364
Prominent Native American tribal elder Marshall McKay dies from COVID-19
For 31 years, from 1984 to 2015, McKay served as a member of the Yocha Dehe Tribal Council, elected to lead the tribe as its chairman for nearly a decade. He continued to serve on many of the tribe’s governmental bodies, including the Board of Directors for Cache Creek Casino Resort. Marshall’s leadership was instrumental in helping Yocha Dehe achieve economic independence and greatly expand the tribe’s land holdings within Yocha Dehe’s ancestral territory.
https://www.kcra.com/article/native-american-tribal-elder-marshall-mckay-dies-covid-19/35135876#
Province ready to put First Nations vaccine distribution plan into action
Plans were still being finalized Wednesday night, and the first batches could be flown out Thursday morning, said Grand Chief Arlen Dumas of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs
He couldn’t say which communities are first in line, however the first doses will be given to doctors and nurses working in remote communities, followed by elders and those at highest risk of contracting the novel coronavirus.
Asked why vaccine distribution hadn’t yet begun in Manitoba’s 63 First Nations communities, Dumas said AMC needed to gather data and consult with residents.
“We’re not a paternalistic organization; our communities actually participated in meaningful ways. There was some data collection that needed to be taken. Our communities are well-versed on… who their vulnerable populations are, who their front-line workers are,” he said.
Situation in Saskatchewan Penitentiary ‘real dire’ as outbreak continues says advocate
“It’s a real dire situation. I actually hear from somebody every day regarding the situation in the pen. The pandemic has really caused a lot of havoc, a lot of problems on them, the staff and families as well,” said Beaudin, national vice chief for the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP).
CAP is a national Indigenous political advocacy organization that has been vocal about the situation in prisons through the pandemic.
Beaudin says on a daily basis people call him, and one thing that really concerns him is that he’s heard some are confined to their cells 23.5 hours a day.
Ontario First Nation hopes new funding will end some water advisories
Chief R. Donald Maracle said his community has suffered from a lack of safe water since 2008, due to fecal, bacterial and algae contaminations. A regional drought made many groundwater wells go completely dry in 2017.
“We’re making significant progress in terms of addressing our community’s long-standing water needs,” Maracle said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
He said the construction of eight-kilometre water pipes has started since his nation received $16.7 million from Ottawa for the project.
Growing COVID-19 cluster jumps Snuneymuxw First Nation up vaccine roll out priority list
Two additional cases were confirmed Wednesday, Jan. 6 taking the total number of active cases to 21.
In response, the province and First Nations Health Authority fast-tracked Snuneymuxw to the front of the queue for the Moderna vaccine.
“In discussions with the health authority and others we said ‘We definitely need that vaccine down here to help our community get past this,’” Chief Mike Wyse, Snuneymuxw First Nation told NanaimoNewsNOW.