Two Métis elders from Buffalo Narrows are working to encourage people to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Louise and Ken Pederson were recently featured in a video produced by the provincial government where they spoke about their experience getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
Louise Pederson said since the video has debuted she and her husband have been receiving some positive feedback.
“Everybody’s congratulated us for doing that, I haven’t had … anybody being negative,” she said.
Pederson explained they did the video advertisement after the Métis Nation Saskatchewan reached out to them before they got their second dose. The two agreed and spoke about their experience on camera.
“We confirmed that we both got the vaccine and we had no side effects, there’s absolutely no side effects of the vaccine,” she said.
Overall Pederson said she has not come across people who are hesitant about taking the vaccine. She said her elder sister in law was originally hesitant about getting the second dose of the vaccine. However, Pederson said her sister in law later changed her mind and made an appointment to get the shot.
“That made me really happy, because I though, you know, why get the first one and not the second one if you want to be safe,” she said.
Pederson said she feels her and others in the north who are able to get the second dose are fortunate given that many in the southern part of the province are having to wait to get theirs.
In doing the video advertisement, Pederson said she hopes people who see it will take steps to keep themselves safe from the virus.
“I hope that they’ll learn something from it so that they’ll stay home, that they’ll stay safe, they’ll get the vaccine and everything will work out for them,” she said.