Question Period Note: Vaccine distribution for Indigenous Communities

• We are working with the Public Health Agency of Canada, provinces and territories, and Indigenous partners to ensure that health facilities in Indigenous communities have the necessary immunization supplies and personal protective equipment to deliver the vaccine when available.

• ISC has formed two COVID-19 Vaccine Planning groups with representation from federal, provincial and territorial, and Indigenous partners to co-develop approaches to support the access to COVID-19 vaccines for Indigenous communities and populations, including urban Indigenous Peoples.

• We continue to ensure that Indigenous peoples’ needs are addressed during the COVID-19 pandemic, including access to vaccines.

The Government of Canada supports First Nations and Inuit communities in preparing for, monitoring and responding to COVID-19. Indigenous Services Canada works closely with the Public Health Agency of Canada, other Government of Canada departments, and provincial and territorial governments as well as Indigenous partners to protect the health and safety of Indigenous peoples.

Shortly after the pandemic began, Indigenous Services Canada established regular calls with the Métis National Council, Métis Nation governments and Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak – Women of the Métis Nation to ensure Métis Nation partners are informed and up-to-date on our pandemic response, including vaccine planning and roll-out.

With vaccine rollout underway across Canada, there is a great deal of public interest in vaccine allocation. There have been significant supply challenges with the two approved COVID-19 vaccines due to the international demand.

Indigenous Services Canada’s First Nations and Inuit Health Branch is developing strategic advice and direction on emerging issues related to COVID-19 vaccine considerations for Indigenous communities, including implementation, quality assurance, and prioritization. To support this planning, Indigenous Services Canada co-developed a COVID-19 Vaccine Plan with provincial/territorial and Indigenous partners. The National Advisory Committee on Immunization has defined key populations for vaccine prioritization, which includes Indigenous adults as well as senior, healthcare workers, and congregate living settings. The Public Health Working Group on Remote and Isolated Communities continues to be a forum to share information and collaborate on vaccine planning in the territories.

The Métis National Council, Métis Nation of British Columbia, Métis Nation of Alberta, Métis Nation Saskatchewan, Manitoba Métis Federation, and the Métis Nation of Ontario are all members of the COVID-19 Planning Working Group. The Métis Nation of Ontario, Métis Nation of Alberta, and the Metis Nation of Saskatchewan also participate on the Urban First Nations, Inuit, Metis and Related Homelands Vaccine Task Group.

At this time, the territories are only administering the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, due to the added geographical and contextual challenges the territories experience with shipping and storing the Pfizer vaccine, and because of communities’ limited access to robust health care services resulting from their remote and isolated locations. The federal government is diverting portions of Moderna vaccine shipments from Atlantic provinces to help with the territorial supply in efforts to address the complexities and unique challenges in the north. An additional 14,700 Moderna doses are being added to the previously agreed territorial allocation. These doses are being sourced by deferring doses from the provinces. Provinces agreed to defer some of their Moderna doses to the territories to enable the vaccination of 75% of the adult populations in those communities in the first three to four months of 2021. Vaccine diversion to the territories has been planned to occur twice: once during the week of February 22-28 (completed) and once in March (planned). At the end of March 2021, all allocations will be reconciled and Moderna doses will be delivered as agreed upon initially to provinces and territories. There are no doses lost, only doses deferred in order to accelerate deliveries to the territories because of their specific logistics and delivery constraints. At the end of the first quarter, all provinces and territories will receive their allocations just as they were communicated to them prior to the diversion strategy.

If pressed on vaccination rates

• As of April 7, 2021, a total of 264,606 doses have been administered in 614 First Nations, Inuit and Territorial communities in the provinces and the Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations in the territories.

As of April 6, 2021:
• The cases in First Nation and Inuit communities continue to decline.

• The decline in First Nations on-reserve cases coincides with when vaccine rollout began in First Nations communities.

• It is important to highlight that vaccination is one part of the equation and the decline in cases is also related to public health measures such as lockdown, physical distancing, wearing masks, hand sanitization, avoiding crowds, staying home when sick, testing, contact tracing, and isolation public health measures.

If pressed on the National Advisory Committee on Immunization’s Guidance on the prioritization of initial doses of COVID-19 vaccine(s) :

• On February 15th, 2021, NACI released updated guidance for prioritization of populations for Stage 2, which includes adults in or from Indigenous communities not offered the vaccine in Stage 1.

• First Nations, Inuit, and Métis need to be prioritized for access to COVID-19 vaccines.

If Pressed on the historic mistrust in the healthcare system:

• Due to the longstanding history of colonization and systemic racism in Canada, there is a historic mistrust in the healthcare system among Indigenous communities, and this includes vaccines.

• We are committed to working with Indigenous partners and communities to address any questions or concerns about the healthcare system, particularly in relation to the COVID-19 response and vaccines.

• In collaboration with our partners, especially Indigenous health care providers, elders and leaders, we are proactively addressing COVID-19 vaccine misinformation, which is a contributing factor in vaccine hesitancy. This work is underway to bolster vaccine confidence, with the overall goal of optimizing vaccine-associated protection.

If Pressed on Pfizer’s January 15th Announcement regarding Reduced Manufacturing:

• Currently, shipments have ramped back up and Pfizer further increased its commitment to ship to Canada an extra 1.5 million doses beyond their previous commitment of 4 million doses by the end of March 2021.

• The Government of Canada remains on track to have enough supply to offer vaccinations to everyone in Canada for whom these authorized vaccines are recommended and for those who wish to receive the vaccine by September 2021. With the recent approval of the AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson vaccines, it is possible that this goal might be achieved even sooner.

If pressed on vaccine tracking:

• Similar to the approach taken to track COVID-19 infection, Indigenous Services Canada works with partners to track vaccine uptake and serious adverse events among First Nations living on-reserve, where we either provide direct or fund service delivery.

If pressed on specific efforts to include Métis partners

• Indigenous Services Canada has kept Métis leadership informed and up-to-date on our pandemic response on a regular basis, including vaccine planning and roll-out.

• Indigenous Services Canada supports the greater inclusion of Métis leadership in the regional vaccine co-planning process, especially the need for trilateral discussions between provinces, Indigenous partners, and the Government of Canada to strengthen the work to date.

• A number of provinces, including BC, Alberta, and Saskatchewan have co-developed plans with Métis communities.

If pressed on vaccinations in the North

• Supporting First Nations and Inuit communities in the territories throughout the COVID-19 pandemic is a priority for ISC.

• Vaccine uptake continues to increase across all Territories.

• While territorial governments are leading vaccination rollouts, ISC is working closely with them and federal counterparts to ensure adequate supplies, equipment, and supports are available for communities to access COVID-19 vaccines.

• Each territory has received enough doses of Moderna to vaccinate at least 75 percent of its adult population by April 2021.

• Vaccinations in the territories are well underway, with 97,530 doses administered as of April 7, 2021.