Fort William leadership encourages eligible persons including children ages 5-11 to attend upcoming COVID-19 vaccination clinic
By Rick Garrick
FORT WILLIAM FIRST NATION — Fort William First Nation Chief Peter Collins is encouraging families with children aged five to 11 to get them vaccinated at a Dec. 15 COVID-19 vaccination clinic in the community.
“On Dec. 15 we need the families to get their children vaccinated,” Chief Collins says. “It’s an important vaccination clinic — it’s for five to 11-year-olds plus we’re also including more booster shots going into the arms of our community [citizens].”
Chief Collins says the community has had some COVID-19 cases due to outbreaks at schools in Thunder Bay that Fort William children attend.
“We’re getting a notice every day where different schools are having outbreaks,” he says. “Even though some of them are small outbreaks, St. Martin [School] was the big outbreak with [27] students identified with COVID-19, so it’s important that we get the vaccinations in the arms of our young people so that we can keep our community safe, keep our kids in school and keep the school safe.”
Chief Collins says the recent outbreak of COVID-19 cases in the community is under control.
“We had about eight people that contracted COVID-19] through that outbreak],” Chief Collins says. “I think most of them have been resolved. There’s still a couple of lingering ones. They had to go through the isolation process and protocols that we have in place.”
Chief Collins says the community has already completed a round of COVID-19 vaccine booster shots on Nov. 23 at the Fort William First Nation Health Centre.
“I think we had about 120 that showed up, so there’s still quite a lot more people out there that need the booster,” he says, noting that people who had their two COVID-19 vaccinations before May 23 are eligible to get their booster shot at the Dec. 15 COVID-19 vaccination clinic. “We’re going to be doing [the booster shots] simultaneously with our young people so they can see some of the folks who are getting the vaccine. Plus, it’ll make it easier for [their parents].”
Chief Collins says they will also be doing flu vaccinations at the COVID-19 vaccine clinic.
“People need to get their flu shots — it’s important to keep them safe and healthy, too,” he adds. “I’ve had my booster and my flu shot.”
The COVID-19 vaccination clinic is scheduled for 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on Dec. 15 at the Fort William First Nation Community Centre. Information about the clinic is available at the Fort William First Nation Health Unit at 622-8802.
“We’re really encouraging our families to get their children registered,” Chief Collins says. “We have a calling number, 622-8802. Please call and register your children. It’s important to keep them healthy and keep them safe.”
The Thunder Bay District Health Unit (TBDHU) recommended on Dec. 2 that all residents avoid non-essential travel to Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, noting that those states at the time had the highest rates of COVID-19 in the United States and the rates were considerably higher than those in the TBDHU area.
“While border restrictions are relaxing, we need to recognize that travel can pose a risk, especially travel to areas where case numbers and community transmission are higher,” says Dr. Janet DeMille, medical officer of health at TBDHU in a Dec. 2 press release. “Recent cases in our area acquired the infection in nearby states. It is strongly recommended that individuals who travel continue to follow all public health measures to reduce their risk.”