Coronavirus: Canada deploys boats, planes to vaccinate remote indigenous communities
- Most indigenous communities are expected to use Moderna’s vaccine because it remains stable at 2-8 Celsius for 30 days
- But distributing the shot across difficult and remote terrain will be a challenge as some communities are reachable only by boat
Even with more transportable vaccines, getting the doses and medical staff to the country’s indigenous communities living far from major cities will be a challenge, Shannon McDonald, acting chief medical officer for British Columbia’s First Nations Health Authority, said.
While many communities are accessible by logging roads or plane, some are reachable only by boat. Some airports are so remote that dogsleds and snowmobiles must transport deliveries to local hospitals.
“This is winter storm season, and some of those communities are difficult to access,” McDonald said. “We’ve had conversations with transportation providers who are willing to fly into communities, helicopter into communities.”
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This will be complicated by the fact that both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines need two doses to be fully effective.