MLA says Tsartlip First Nation adults to be vaccinated this week

MLA says Tsartlip First Nation adults to be vaccinated this week
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A Vancouver Island MLA has indicated that vaccines are on the way this week for adults in the Tsartlip First Nation.

A Vancouver Island MLA has indicated that vaccines are on the way this week for adults in the Tsartlip First Nation.

Adam Olsen, the BC Green Party Member of Legislative Assembly for Saanich North and the Islands, posted on Twitter that “all adults” in the Tsartlip community will be vaccinated in the coming days.

Olsen emphasizes that the Tsartlip First Nation has been experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak among its members and has been under a shelter-in-place order “for weeks.”

As a result of the current health risks to Tsartlip members, the Province has prioritized immunizations for adults.

“This is an important part of the provincial vaccination program to better protect Indigenous communities experiencing outbreaks,” Olsen said in a Twitter thread, posted Tuesday evening.

Olsen, a member and resident of the Tsartlip First Nation, said he is one of the adults scheduled to get his vaccination this week. The Green Party MLA has confirmed he will be receiving his first dose on Wednesday.

“I am providing this information about getting vaccinated earlier than anticipated because I believe transparency is critical,” he noted in the Twitter thread.

The Tsartlip First Nation has lands located on the Saanich Peninsula.

The Cowichan Tribes, another Vancouver Island First Nation community experiencing an outbreak of COVID-19, has posted they will begin vaccinating members age 16 and up, starting Wednesday as well.

The adult vaccinations within these First Nations communities comes a few days after B.C. health officials revealed further details of the Province’s immunization rollout plan.

The provincial government also revealed that over the weekend, it approved a four-month window between doses one and two of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines because the first dose has been higher than 90 per cent effective after three weeks, with protection lasting four months.

This extended window of 120 days between doses is allowing these First Nations communities to administer first doses to more adults in the short-term.

Graham CoxGraham Cox

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