The COVID-19 pandemic has demanded that Lianne Mantla-Look do her job as a nurse while also navigating through Indigenous and mainstream Canadian societies.

Normally a casual community health nurse in Behchoko, Mantla-Look was called upon to work with the COVID-19 immunization response Team (CIRT) when vaccinations began in the NWT in January.

She also works full-time as a patient engagement specialist with Hot谋矛 tsSA国际影视传媒檈eda in Yellowknife.

Mantla-Look has been part of vaccine teams in Yellowknife, Dettah, Behchoko and flown twice to Wekweeti for its clinic.

SA国际影视传媒淚SA国际影视传媒檓 one of the nurses that administers the Moderna vaccine to people in the communities who want to get vaccinated,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淚n the Tlicho region, ISA国际影视传媒檓 the person there as a nurse who can speak Tlicho well. I provide vaccine education in Tlicho before I give them the vaccine.SA国际影视传媒�

While sheSA国际影视传媒檚 currently based in Yellowknife, she always appreciates going back to Tlicho communities such as Behchoko, where she is from.

SA国际影视传媒淲hen I go to Behchoko as a community health nurse itSA国际影视传媒檚 like coming home,SA国际影视传媒� she said.

Working with Elders has been the highlight of her career, even before the pandemic, and her ability to speak Tlicho has made her role as a vaccine nurse go more smoothly.

SA国际影视传媒淚 think many people are pleasantly surprised to meet a nurse speaking Tlicho. It puts people at ease,SA国际影视传媒� she said.

Mantla-Look recalls a particularly endearing experience at a vaccine clinic in Behchoko in April.

When she gave an Elder her shot, the woman asked if it was done, surprised at how painless it was.

SA国际影视传媒淭hen two of her friends came over and she said to them, SA国际影视传媒楪o see her! Go see Lianne! She gives needles that donSA国际影视传媒檛 hurt!SA国际影视传媒� So then I had a lineup of little old ladies waiting to see me. It was the highlight of my week.SA国际影视传媒�

Her role in the vaccination process in Tlicho communities has also helped build relationships in the region between Indigenous leaders and the health-care teams because she has worked a lot with her mother Rosa Mantla, a Tlicho interpreter.

Rosa has accompanied vaccine teams to Tlicho communities, where she has guided residents through the jab process and even explained some scientific details of the Moderna vaccine. In Wekweeti on Jan. 13, she translated for chief public health officer Dr. Kami Kandola when she explained how the vaccine works.

RELATED REPORTING: Covid-19 vaccine campaign rolls into Wekweeti

But the job has its challenges too.

One of the hardest things that Mantla-Look works against is vaccine hesitancy due to misinformation disseminated on the internet.

That hesitancy is reflected in GNWT data that shows the Tlicho and Sahtu regions have the lowest vaccine uptake rates in the territory.

RELATED REPORTING: Tlicho, Sahtu regions have lowest vaccination rates in NWT

According to the latest update on the NWT COVID-19 Dashboard, 47 per cent of people eligible to receive their vaccine in the Tlicho region have been partially vaccinated, while the full vaccination rate for the region is at 37 per cent. For the NWT as a whole, 57 per cent of residents have been fully vaccinated.

While most patients are comfortable receiving their shots and ask lots of questions about how the vaccine was developed so fast, the fear and unease with vaccines comes up fairly often, Mantla-Look acknowledged.

SA国际影视传媒淭rying to get ahead of the misinformation out there is a challenge. The internet is even more accessible now than it was a few years ago. Everyone has access now to SA国际影视传媒楩acebook doctors,SA国际影视传媒橲A国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淎ll it takes is one negative article about someone getting a vaccine in a country far away from the NWT. That instills fear and makes people hesitate.SA国际影视传媒�

At times, even after she has explained the facts about the vaccine and how it works, some people still donSA国际影视传媒檛 accept it.

SA国际影视传媒淭hey might say, SA国际影视传媒業SA国际影视传媒檓 not ready to do this. ISA国际影视传媒檒l come back when ISA国际影视传媒檓 ready,SA国际影视传媒� and they walk away,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 (their) personal choice. My only hope is that people will make their choices based on the correct information out there.SA国际影视传媒�

As the NWT begins vaccinations of youth aged 12-17 with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, Mantla-Look urges the public to freely ask questions of nurses at the vaccine clinics.

SA国际影视传媒淒onSA国际影视传媒檛 be afraid to ask,SA国际影视传媒� she advised. SA国际影视传媒�(And) be a little bit more picky about the information you choose to seek out about vaccines or COVID-19 in general.SA国际影视传媒�