Duke Peltier pushes for more vaccine uptake as COVID-19 outbreaks hit Wiikwemkoong

Ogimaa Duke Peltier says he wants people in Wikwemikoong Unceded Territory to consider their families first, as he continues to battle vaccine hesitancy in the Ontario community.

Approximately 65 per cent of the 4,000-member First Nation community has been vaccinated, Peltier said, even as they deal with reports of COVID-19 outbreaks.

On Wednesday, Peltier, the ogimaa (Anishinaabemowin for chief),reported the Wikwemkoong Pandemic Team identified three separate clusters of the virus circulating in the community.

In a Facebook post Thursday, the community reported sevencases among band members.

Still, not everyone is willing to get vaccinated.

"I think we have to place an importance on their loved ones, on their own families," Peltier said.

There still remains some vaccine hesitancy, Peltier said, but feels the science clearly shows how effective the doses can be.

"Some time has passed now from once the vaccinations have started, and some of the hesitancy that some people have ... I think we can safely say that an individual obtaining a vaccine is protecting them and their families."

As for younger community members,Peltier remains concerned, but is looking forward to clinical trials of the vaccine for childrenunder 12. Currently, vaccines have only been approved in Canada for people 12 and older, with Pfizer-BioNTech the only vaccine OK'dforages between 12 and18.

"I think that once that [vaccine approval for under-12s] happens, I believe many ofthe parents in our community will be lining up and getting appointments set up for their children, especially with school coming back in September," Peltier said.

Wikwemkoong schools will return to in-class learning in September, just asOntario schools are.

"I think that we've proven over the last school year that we were able to operate safely and and have the ability to protect all the all the children, and more importantly, provide them with that social interaction that a child needs for their mental well-being," Peltier said.

But Wikwemkoong schools won't be eligible for the $600-million investment the province is making in ventilation systems, since they do not fall under the Ontarioeducation framework, Peltier said.

"I believe that our schools are quite dated and we haven't been successful in getting the appropriate funding for an overhaul of the ventilation systems," he said.

"But I welcome that type of funding to be available for all First Nations."