At least two Indigenous organizations in the province are opening COVID-19 immunization clinics.
Beginning today, the Prince Albert Grand Council will hold an on-reserve clinic at the Senator Allen Bird Memorial Centre from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
The site will be open to anyone who wants to be inoculated. Cree and Dene translation will be provided.
The Saskatoon Tribal Council too is opening a clinic Tuesday at SaskTel Centre for vaccinations.
“When we talk about why we are having a site. It’s to promote the safety of our people. We want our young children to be able to play together, to gather at the playgrounds and to visit their families,” STC Tribal Chief Mark Arcand said. “We want to be able to go to events to our ceremonies to our powwows.”
The clinics come following the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, and the provincial and federal governments which will see approximately 14 percent of COVID-19 doses from Saskatchewan, be directed to First Nations.
The one-year agreement beginning April 5, will see 120,000 vaccinations go to Indigenous People.
“When we talk about the measures that we are deploying, they go over and above the increased efforts in making the vaccine deployment more efficient and efficacious,” explained Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller. “All in an effort to move quickly, in real time with respect to the virus that moves quicker than government.”
Miller warned that a third wave of surging COVID-19 cases are a clear and present danger to First Nations communities in the prairie provinces.
“A Third Wave is real. As you can see, in a number of jurisdictions, the rapid rise in cases the rapid rise in occupancy in hospitals and the number of ICU beds occupied as a result of taking care of individuals with severe COVID-19. This is dangerous and we need to pay attention,” said Dr. Tom Wong, Chief Medical Officer of Public Health for Indigenous Services Canada.
To register or need help with transportation, the public is asked to contact PAGC Health and Social Development at 306-953-7283, or by email at healthreception@pagc.net. Or, call SHA at 1-833-727-5829 (1-833-SASK-VAX) or its online booking tool at https://shaappt.cxmflow.com/indexcc.html
To register for the Saskatoon Tribal Council clinic, more information can be found on the organization’s website. https://www.sktc.sk.ca/