BC’s Indigenous population continues to be hit hard by the pandemic’s fourth wave.
According to the latest data from the First Nations Health Authority, 14% of all hospitalizations in the province are Indigenous.
This is despite the fact First Nations people only makeup 3% of BC’s total population.
Acting Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shannon McDonald told Vista Radio many of the cases we see in the north are from their demographic.
“Over the weekend, we reported 237 community cases – 125 of those are in the north so it’s not even equally distributed across the province.”
McDonald adds 33% of the cases they have are among those who are double-vaccinated.
Rural and remote communities, continue to bear the brunt of infections.
“We’ve had several community outbreaks that have been quite large at over 30 people in relatively small communities. We’ve seen a significant number of cases in Prince George for people that live away from their home community and often travel back and forth.”
McDonald mentioned of the roughly 5,000 active cases in the province, about 480 are in First Nations communities.
When asked if we could see a scenario where several northern Indigenous communities restrict access due to the rising case counts, McDonald noted the final decision is not up to the FNHA.
“Decisions about policies like that are the communities to make. We provide recommendations based on what we know. We know for example health care providers across the province will be looking at mandating vaccination for our health care delivery team.”
In terms of vaccination rates, about 76% of eligible First Nations people in BC have received their first jab while 64% are fully vaccinated.
McDonald stated despite their best efforts, a certain level of vaccine hesitancy still remains.
“We have some members who adamantly refuse the vaccine and there is very little we can do to change their mind although we do keep trying. We would certainly like to get those numbers up a little higher.”
She added the current vaccination rates do not reflect the on-reserve populations versus those who live off-reserve.