By Canadian Press

Yukon’s COVID vaccine rollout falls short in First Nations care, engagement: auditor

Jun 20, 2023 | 11:58 AM

A new report from Canada’s auditor general on Yukon’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout finds clinics at First Nations communities did little to alleviate residents’ fears and suspicions of the shots.

The report presented to the Yukon legislature says some First Nation residents had “concern that they were the test cases to determine the efficacy of the vaccination,” and many workers involved in the immunization lacked the training to ease those anxieties.

The report says residents and non-governmental organizations felt the immunization environment “was overly clinical” and lacked cultural support, unless the clinics were run directly by First Nations themselves.

Overall, the report says Yukon’s vaccine rollout was successful, with the territory vaccinating vulnerable groups such as seniors in Whitehorse within six weeks of receiving its first shipment.

But the report also outlines a number of shortcomings, including issues such as inventory management leading to wasted doses.

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The main issue the auditor identifies, however, is with the handling of the rollout in First Nations communities that make up 20 per cent of the territory’s population.

The report says the vaccination process did not involve any engagement with First Nations in its planning and “had limited input” from those communities throughout its implementation.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 20, 2023.

The Canadian Press