Wet'suwet'en First Nation calls for urgent booster shots after COVID-19 deaths, positive tests in community

The Wet'suwet'en First Nation is calling for third doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to be administered to eligible community members after two recent deaths and four elders tested positive for the coronavirus, according to their chief.

The request, announced in a news release on Friday, is also being supported by other First Nations who are growing concerned about the spread of the Delta variant.

"It's very urgent that we get our elders ... the booster shot because we're losing them very quickly. It's devastating," said Wet'suwet'en First Nation Chief Maureen Luggi.

Luggi said her 85 year-old mother, who was double vaccinated, died recently from COVID-19.

She said it has been a tough two weeks with two COVID-19-related deaths in the community, which is made of about 150 people.

"We have already endured such hardship, burying two people within a two-week period," Luggi said. 

"It cannot continue, we need help to stop the spread, we need help to alleviate what we are going through right now."

According to the news release, a senior government official in the region said they would not receive booster shots until early in the new year, although it did not specify who.  

But in an email statement to CBC News, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said no formal requests have been made.

"At this time, no formal requests for booster doses have been made to public health," read the statement.

Henry pointed out that vaccination clinics have been running in First Nations communities throughout the pandemic, and said the province is delivering third doses to people who don't develop a strong immune response because of a health condition or certain medications, and to those living in long-term care facilities.

"We have been prioritizing First Nations communities where there have been recent transmissions with vaccination teams providing first and second doses as well as boosters to Elders and seniors."

The Carrier Sekani Tribal Council, which represents seven First Nations in the province's central Interior, is also urging the B.C. government to provide booster shots to Indigenous communities before next year.

Priscilla Mueller, Chief of the Saik'uz First Nation and a board director of the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council, echoed the message that third doses may arrive too late in Indigenous communities for some seniors.

"It is unacceptable that Wet'suwet'en and other First Nations communities cannot expect to receive boosters of the life-saving vaccine until next year when the need for this health care is urgent," said Mueller.

In New Brunswick, third dose vaccination clinics are scheduled to run in some Indigenous communities starting next week.