New data released on the GNWT’s COVID-19 dashboard shows the vaccination rate is lower in the Sahtu and Tłı̨chǫ region.
The majority of the population in the Tłı̨chǫ region, just under three thousand people, haven’t received a single dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. Ten per cent are partially vaccinated, meaning they have received one dose, with 36 per cent of people having received both doses.
In the Sahtu region, 46 per cent of people have not received a single dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Seven per cent have received one dose, with 47 per cent of people being fully vaccinated.
That’s below the territorial average. Across the NWT, 51 per cent of people are fully vaccinated, with 63 per cent of people at least partially vaccinated.
Health Minister Julie Green said the GNWT is starting to see a lull in its vaccine uptake throughout the territory, during a press conference on Wednesday.
Dr. AnneMarie Pegg, chief medical doctor for the NWT, says the GNWT has visited every community in the NWT at least three times. Pegg previously announced the territorial government would not be scheduling clinics in remote NWT communities in the future.
Rather appointments for vaccines could be made by residents contacting their local health authority.
From there the Health and Social Services Authority will arrange targeted clinics for specific communities, trying to meet the demand as soon as possible, according Pegg.
“We will determine the best way to ensure that people get timely access. This would include planning for on demand mini-clinics in communities if this was deemed unnecessary,” she said in a media briefing earlier this month.
Walk-in appointments were also announced in Yellowknife earlier this month. Green said residents in NWT communities could go to a hub community if they were seeking a vaccine appointment and that the GNWT was looking at offering more pop-up clinics and walk-ins elsewhere in the territory.
Fort Smith had the highest proportion of people fully vaccinated against COVID-19, with 61 per cent of people having received their two doses. The next highest is the Dehcho region with 59 per cent of people being fully vaccinated, followed by Yellowknife at 52 per cent, the Beaufort Delta at 51 per cent and Hay River at 51 per cent fully vaccinated.
