The N.W.T.'s Chief Public Health Officer has declared an outbreak of pertussis, or whooping cough, in the Deh Cho region after a total of seven cases were confirmed in two communities.
Posted: Jan 08, 2021 6:00 AM CT | Last Updated: January 8
MLA Lesa Semmler, who is a nurse and worked in health promotion for 20 years, said the government of the Northwest Territories should have provided more public health education before the vaccine arrived so it could gain wider acceptance.(Mario De Ciccio/Radio-Canada)
As the Moderna vaccine rolls out in the N.W.T., Indigenous leaders say the territorial government must address vaccine hesitancy if it wants to reach target immunization levels.
The territory received 7,200 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine last week, and unveiled its
But Inuvik MLA Lesa Semmler says information sessions should have been conducted earlier by community health nurses to increase confidence in the vaccine.
It started as a way to pass the time during the holidays. Four years ago, Matthew Lavoie, Lance Gray and a group of their friends started building an ice bar at Inuvik’s Airport Lake to ring in the New Year.
Every year the scope of the project grew bigger. People kept offering ideas, and expanding on the bar’s design. The event drew more and more attention. Someone asked if they were going to start competing with Yellowknife’s famous snowcastle. That’s when it got weird.
“No,” says Lavoie. “All hail the snowking.”
“We’re in his kingdom,” adds Gray.