Bernice Desjarlais of Piapot First Nation receives the vaccine in Prince Albert at PAGC's Department of Health and Social Development urban clinic. (Submitted photo/PAGC)

By Alison Sandstrom

Virtual gathering

Sing, dance, laugh and get the jab: weekend event encourages vaccination in the north

Mar 12, 2021 | 8:00 AM

As we mark one year since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, two northern Saskatchewan Tribal Councils are teaming up to lift spirits and provide people with a shot in the arm to get over the finish line.

Thousands are expected to tune in to the ‘All in this Together’ Virtual Gathering broadcast Saturday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Facebook. The event is organized by Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC) and Meadow Lake Tribal Council. It will feature comedians, musicians and motivational speakers. Performances will be interspersed with messages from Chiefs, community champions, health experts, spiritual leaders, and government officials promoting vaccination.

“We are truly blessed and grateful for all the work that has been done by our frontline workers,” PAGC Vice Chief Joseph Tsannie told paNOW. “This virtual event was our way to reach out to the communities and give them hope, and reenergize them to keep going.”

Aside from entertainment, Saturday’s event is part of an ongoing effort by northern leaders to combat vaccine hesitancy.

“There’s a lot of misinformation out there and we wanted to make sure that we get the positive messaging out to our communities,” Tsannie said, noting people will be able to hear directly from doctors during the event.

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Past mistreatment by the healthcare system has contributed to vaccine hesitancy in Indigenous communities across the country.

Tsannie explained the speed with which the vaccine arrived in the north also played a role.

“The vaccines were available and boom, they’re in our northern communities with very little education,” he said. “We’ve had to do that education part as the Tribal Council with our professionals here, to do whatever we can to educate our people, ‘get the vaccine that’s how you’re going to protect your loved ones.’”

He noted initial hesitancy has since started to improve.

Eva Ross, homecare nursing coordinator with PAGC Department of Health and Social Development poses after getting the vaccine. (Submitted photo/PAGC)

As of March 10, over 5,282 doses of Moderna and Pfizer vaccines have been administered in Northern Inter Tribal Health Authority (NITHA) communities, according to NITHA.

Dr. Nnamdi Ndubuka, medical health officer for NITHA, said vaccine uptake has varied by community. While some have exhausted 100 per cent of their allocation, others have had challenges with hesitancy.

He explained reluctance is not surprising given it was not long ago Indigenous people were subjected to medical interventions and experimentation without consent.

“Those atrocities of the past continue to be fresh in the minds of people today,” he said.

Ndubuka praised the work First Nations leaders across the North have done highlighting the vaccine as safe and effective.

“Chiefs have promoted the vaccine on social media… they’ve also provided key messaging through radio, dispelling any myths or notions of Indigenous people being used as experiments and ensuring that people understand that the vaccines are safe.”

That advocacy is incredibly important, he explained.

“The vaccine is one of those tools that will really enable us to emerge atop this pandemic sooner rather than later,” he said.

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom