Yukon's top doctor looking to ease COVID-19 restrictions by late spring

Yukon's Chief Medical Officer Dr. Brendan Hanley says the territorial government is hoping to start easing restrictions in the next few months, if things go as planned.

On Friday, the territory released a two-step approach titled A Path Forward: Next Steps, which looks to strengthen some current public health measures and vaccinate as many people as possible before gradually reducing restrictions. However, no timeline was given as to when these changes would be made.

Hanley told CBC on Tuesday that though the government is trying to stay realistic about case counts in the territory and across the country, and how COVID-19 variants will play out, he does have a timeline in mind.

"I'm pretty optimistic that through the spring and into the summer we will be able to increase our gathering sizes, increase our social bubbles. That's sort of our working premise is over the next two to three months," Hanley said.

He said as the territory moves into the summer the government is hoping to look at the potential for jurisdictional bubbles, and increasing outdoor gatherings such as celebrations and ceremonies — though this will depend on vaccination rates and case counts.

25% of eligible population fully vaccinated, gov't says

Currently there are no active cases of COVID-19 in the territory.

Hanley said that things are in an "upward swing" with vaccinations right now, and he is feeling positive about the territory progressing toward its 75 per cent or higher target. 

As of Monday, the territorial government is reporting that 43 per cent of the eligible population has their first COVID-19 vaccination, while it says 25 per cent of the 18-and-older population is fully vaccinated.

He said the territory can look at increasing social bubbles, if a high vaccination rate continues throughout Yukon and if cases remain low.

"What we're seeing in the communities is significant numbers of people coming forward for first dose who weren't ready for it the last time, and as well as, of course, the second dose uptake," he said.

Though the territory has previously said it will not be releasing the specific numbers of people vaccinated in each community just yet, it has now released vaccination numbers by region.

See each region's first dose percentage here:

Hanley said there are different reasons why there might be a difference in the numbers between the regions — including individual hesitancy and logistics.

"I think there are just so many mixed factors going on. But what we are seeing is really good progress," he said.

Hanley also said that while the territory had originally estimated 75 per cent of eligible adults being vaccinated could get Yukon to herd immunity —  that number might need to be higher.

"Our approach in general is to get as many Yukoners vaccinated as possible … We know it's going to be the majority of adults vaccinated at a minimum and ultimately likely a high majority."

Premier says details to be released as soon as possible

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Premier Sandy Silver said now that the territory has more of its population vaccinated than anywhere else in Canada, he has heard from businesses across Yukon who want to know the territory's plans for summer.

"We will get that information out as soon as we possibly can. We can't forecast things that are outside of the medical community's ability to forecast, though," said Silver.

Silver said right now the territory is focused on getting the number of people vaccinated as high as possible.

"But at the same time, we don't want to take the gas pedal off of that being a number for folks to kind of adhere to … The best thing that we can do right now is to make sure that we get that number up as high as possible," said Silver.

Silver said if people are eligible and feeling hesitant, now is the time to reach out to the vaccination team to help address any concerns they might have. 

The territorial government also has a list of answers to frequently asked questions about the vaccine that can be found here.