Moosonee mayor urging residents to get vaccinated

Moosonee Mayor Wayne Taipale wants residents to know that the surge in COVID-19 cases in the community is a serious situation.

A state of emergency was declared for the community on Friday, May 21. As of Wednesday, May 26, there were more than 40 active cases in the community of roughly 2,500 people — all of which have been mild.

Taipale says they have unique challenges in Moosonee with which other communities in the southern part of the region don't have to deal.

"Way up here in the north there are large families. And if you put out a stay at home order and you say 'just mingle with your immediate family', well with the Aboriginal population, immediate family could be uncles, brothers and that, so we had to reword it and try to explain it to people [that] you have to stay in your immediate household."

Taipale says they've gone door-to-door in the community and offered the COVID-19 vaccine. He's urging anyone who is eligible, to get the vaccine, as the people who are getting the virus now have not been vaccinated.

"It's just to get the residents to realise how extreme this COVID is and to get their attention. We've spoken with the Porcupine Health Unit and the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority [to see if] we might be able to get the vaccine for the ages 12 to 17 here earlier, if we can."