Operation Remote Immunity 2.0 to take flight Monday

An effort to vaccinate youth in Ontario's fly-in First Nations is set to launch on Monday.

Dubbed "Operation Remote Immunity 2.0," the 2-month campaign will aim to build on the success of the first Operation Remote Immunity – a massive effort to vaccinate adults in remote communities over the winter — by delivering the Pfizer vaccine to young people aged 12 to 17. 

As in the first effort, community involvement will be at the heart of the campaign, said Wade Durham, chief operating officer, medical operations and joint operations, with Ornge. 

"So community involvement was really, truly key in terms of getting the communities involved early, getting their support, having them communicate early that we're coming in and having questions answered or concerns raised and answered before we get in," he said. 

"So we're matching that again and we're involving everybody early."

Ornge will once again lead the effort in the northwest, in partnership with a number of other organizations, including Nishnawbe Aski Nation. For this effort, the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority will also oversee operations for some communities in the northeast of the province, Durham explained. 

Over the course of the next two months, teams consisting of paramedics, physicians and nurses will visit 31 fly-in communities, as well as Moosonee, with the goal of delivering both first and second doses to youth by the end of July.

The first clinics will be offered in Neskantaga and Webequie on Monday and Tuesday. 

In addition to vaccinating as many eligible young people as possible, health teams will also be offering vaccines to adults who missed the first clinics, Durham said. 

'Hope' for young people

The launch of Operation Remote Immunity 2.0 is something to celebrate, said Lloyd Douglas, the public health physician for the Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority, and another partner in the effort.

"This is extremely important, and I'm excited about this," he said, adding that vaccines will make a big difference for young people.

Isolated First Nations have made immense sacrifices over the past year in order to keep COVID-19 out, he explained, including implementing travel restrictions that have impacted the ability to access everything from healthcare to education.

Vaccinating young people will bring them, and their communities one step closer to life as normal.

"And when you think about the tremendous burden that our young people are facing in this region in regards to the various mental health issues that they face, and how they are being disconnected now for more than 15 months because of COVID-19, from caregivers, from teachers, from friends — this is actually addressing more than just protecting these young people from an infectious disease," he said. 

"This vaccine, to me, symbolizes hope for young people."

Douglas said over the past few weeks, the health authority has been using social media and other channels to reach out to young people in its communities to promote the effort. They're also welcoming questions from youth and parents, and planning some giveaways to encourage young people to get involved. 

"Just making this fun, making this exciting," he said. 

"And I'm going to encourage all the young people — go out and show us, the adults, how it's done!"