Globe and Mail: Planning, trust led to COVID-19 vaccination success in Northern Ontario First Nations

On April 11, 2021, the Globe and Mail wrote a piece on the success of the vaccination in Northern Ontario First Nations communities including the James and Hudson Bay Region.

“Lynne Innes, president and chief executive officer of Weeneebayko Area Health Authority (WAHA) in Moose Factory, which provides public health care to six communities along the James Bay and Hudson Bay coasts, said uptake ranges from 70 to 94 per cent, with a goal of reaching 95 per cent.

Ms. Innes, who was co-lead of the rollout for her region, attributes their success to developing distribution models based on each community’s needs. These included building trust, something easily established by having their own human health resources, such as nurses, paramedics and elders, work with the vaccinators from Ornge, she said. Any vaccine hesitancy was addressed through public health campaigns on social media and local radio in the Cree dialects, and personal community visits from Ms. Innes, who is a Cree from Moose Factory, and an elder.”

Read the full story by clicking the link below. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-planning-trust-led-to-covid-19-vaccination-success-in-northern-ontario/?utm_medium=Referrer:+Social+Network+/+Media&utm_campaign=Shared+Web+Article+Links