SA国际影视传媒淚 want more!SA国际影视传媒� said a laughing Wekweekti Chief Charlie Football, just after he received his Moderna shot on Wednesday, making him the first member of the community to be vaccinated.
Blair McBride/NNSL photos
FootballSA国际影视传媒檚 comment elicited applause from the medical staff and other people in the Tlicho communitySA国际影视传媒檚 Youth Centre, where dozens of Wekweeti residents filed in for their Covid-19 vaccinations.
SA国际影视传媒淚SA国际影视传媒檓 excited. I just want to show my people that I could do it,SA国际影视传媒� Football said.
Chief public health officer Dr. Kami Kandola was the second person in the Youth Centre to get the Covid shot.
SA国际影视传媒淚 didnSA国际影视传媒檛 really feel it,SA国际影视传媒� Kandola said, smiling, just seconds after Teresa Patzer, a nurse from Behchoko, gave her the jab.
Almost two weeks after the NWTSA国际影视传媒檚 vaccination campaign began on Dec. 31, Kandola said 18 communities have received their first doses of Moderna by the end of the week of Jan. 10-17, part of the January schedule to target priority populations and remote Indigenous communities.
Of the 110 doses the vaccination team brought to Wekweeti in a freezer box, 40 were used on Wednesday, said Department of Health and Social Services spokesperson Damien Healy.
Kandola echoed FootballSA国际影视传媒檚 sentiment of SA国际影视传媒渆xcitementSA国际影视传媒� over the vaccine reaching Wekweeti.
SA国际影视传媒淭hese remote Indigenous communities are quite vulnerable to the spread to Covid. ItSA国际影视传媒檚 wonderful that we can roll out a vaccine that prevents the severity of disease,SA国际影视传媒� she said.
Kandola highlighted the campaignSA国际影视传媒檚 successes thus far. All residents and support staff in the seven long-term care facilities of the NWT have been vaccinated. That comprises Yellowknife, Behchoko, Norman Wells, Hay River, Fort Smith, Fort Simpson and Inuvik.
High-risk health care workers were also vaccinated at hospitals in Yellowknife, Inuvik, Hay River and Fort Smith.
The current round of vaccinations focuses on communities that only have SA国际影视传媒渉ealth cabinsSA国际影视传媒� and not permanent health centres.
Kandola acknowledged that one challenge the campaign has faced is vaccine hesitancy in small communities.
SA国际影视传媒�(There was) the desire to see myself get vaccinated, so I can lead by example and show that vaccines are safe,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淚n those communities, more people are asking questions, they don't want to be the first (to be vaccinated). They want to see more people get vaccinated, and it'll be a matter of time before they decide to come forward. But the more information they have, the better they can make a decision.
SA国际影视传媒淭he risk will always be here of Covid transmission (but) the vaccine decreases the risk of acquiring severe Covid by 94.1 per cent. The whole purpose of this is not end up like B.C. or Ontario or Alberta, where hospital beds are maxed, ICUs are beyond capacity or at near full capacity. By vaccinating as many people at-risk as possible, we are decreasing that strain on our health-care system.SA国际影视传媒�
One woman in Wekweeti who admitted to feeling some uncertainty over the vaccine was Danielle Judas.
SA国际影视传媒淚 feel good but itSA国际影视传媒檚 nerve-wracking at the same time,SA国际影视传媒� she said, just after getting her vaccination.
SA国际影视传媒淲ith the whole pandemic, you just never know what can happen. Or if (the vaccine) will actually work. (But) I actually think itSA国际影视传媒檚 a really good idea. We have to take the same precautions as everyone else, even though weSA国际影视传媒檙e a small community. ISA国际影视传媒檓 the recreation coordinator and I deal with kids every day. ItSA国际影视传媒檚 very important for me to get this.SA国际影视传媒�
Mary-Adele Tsatchia felt no hesitancy at all and said she has been praying daily for the vaccine to reach Wekweeti.
SA国际影视传媒淚 feel happy and I feel great that I got the vaccine,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淚t can save lives. ISA国际影视传媒檝e heard a lot of stories on TV and on the radio of people dying from Covid. I feel so heartbroken about people who have lost loved ones.SA国际影视传媒�
The work of Rose Mantla is a key part of the vaccination effort in a community like Wekweeti, where many people are more comfortable communicating in the Tlicho language, and where some are unsure of the vaccine.
She translated details of the vaccination process for Elders who came in for their shots and translated for Kandola as she explained the importance of vaccinations for people who were skeptical.
But even as a bilingual English-Tlicho speaker, she had to do some homework before the translation work began on Wednesday.
SA国际影视传媒淭here are medical terms I really need to understand closely to be able to translate,SA国际影视传媒� said Mantla, who works as a Tlicho language culture coordinator with the Tlicho Community Services Agency.
Some English terms, like SA国际影视传媒渧accineSA国际影视传媒� donSA国际影视传媒檛 have a direct equivalent in Tlicho. In her research, she found SA国际影视传媒渕edicine that you get a needle withSA国际影视传媒� was the closest translation. She said the Tlicho term she uses for Covid-19 vaccine is SA国际影视传媒淭adadeSA国际影视传媒檊a naidee wetSA国际影视传媒檃 gooiSA国际影视传媒檊oo.SA国际影视传媒�
Similarly, the concept of a vaccine SA国际影视传媒渇ighting offSA国际影视传媒� a disease doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 directly translate to Tlicho.
SA国际影视传媒淲e have to say (in Tlicho) the body protects itself by being stronger to beat the disease,SA国际影视传媒� she said.
Alex Canuel-Kirkwood and Stephanie Cochrane support the vaccinations as logisticians, working with plans, temperature readings on the Moderna freezer box and hardware. They donSA国际影视传媒檛 administer shots, but they still deeply appreciate the significance of the vaccinations.
SA国际影视传媒淚'm elated,SA国际影视传媒� Canuel-Kirkwood said, as he crunched data on his laptop. SA国际影视传媒淭his is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And I'll be looking back on this for decades, bragging that I was involved in global vaccination efforts.SA国际影视传媒�
And the efforts wouldnSA国际影视传媒檛 succeed without the logisticians, who hauled the freezer box containing Moderna doses onto the plane in Yellowknife, into a van in Wekweekti and then into the Youth Centre. They monitored the temperature constantly to make sure the inside of the box stays between -15 C and -25 C.
In cases of community members who are over 18 years not showing up for the vaccination, the doses stay in the box and are taken back to Yellowknife for other priority groups, Canuel-Kirkwood said.
While Kandola recognizes that many NWT residents are feeling fatigue with the some of the ongoing public health restrictions, she noted that the three territories have an opportunity to SA国际影视传媒渄odge a bulletSA国际影视传媒� by receiving vaccines ahead of the rest of Canada, with vaccinations scheduled for the general population of the NWT in March.
SA国际影视传媒淭he impact that Covid has had on provinces across Canada is not the story that we will be telling SA国际影视传媒� that we would actually have significantly less risk and be able to be more open and have less restrictions,SA国际影视传媒� she said.
