Vaccine hesitancy and online misinformation are weakening trust in the science, leaving residents — especially elders and children — vulnerable to preventable diseases, says Health Minister Lesa Semmler.
Measles vaccination rates amongst two-year-olds have dropped from nearly 90-per-cent in 2019 to just over 82-per-cent in 2024 — well below the national target of 95-per-cent.
Similarly, only 69-per-cent of two-year-olds have had received their diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccines.
Seasonal influenza vaccine rates have also fallen with only 18-per-cent of residents vaccinated this year.
“Vaccines save lives. They have drastically reduced deaths from diseases like measles, polio, diphtheria, but because these diseases are now rare in Canada, many people forget how dangerous they can be,” Semmler said in the NWT Assembly on Wednesday.
“These low rates put our most vulnerable population, children, elders and those with chronic conditions at serious risk.”
Right now, continued the Minister, Canada is seeing more cases of influenza, measles and pertussis, whooping cough. The NWT is not immune to these trends.
Semmler acknowledged vaccine fatigue is real, as the number of recommended vaccines has increased, and some people feel overwhelmed.
The Minister also spoke directly to the Indigenous population.
“Indigenous people in the Northwest Territory have long faced health inequities due to colonization and systemic racism,” she said. “Historical traumas such as forced residential schools and medical mistreatment have created mistrust in our healthcare system, including vaccines.
“Addressing vaccine hesitancy in Indigenous communities requires more than facts. It requires building trust through culturally safe care and meaningful engagement with Indigenous leaders and knowledge keepers.”
If vaccination rates do not improve, Semmler said it will increase the risk of outbreaks from outside of the NWT, putting countless lives at risk and further straining our already overburdened healthcare system.
“As a Minister and a former public health nurse, I urge all residents to check their vaccination status and make sure that they are up to date. Talk to your health-care provider, visit your local public health unit and get the information you need from trusted sources. Science has given us the tools to fight these diseases. It’s up to us to use them.”
Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh MLA Richard Edjericon in the NWT Assembly Wednesday, March 5th. (Image courtesy of Assembly livestream)
Also in the Assembly on Wednesday, Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh MLA Richard Edjericon, for the second day, argued about the need to replace the half-century old Kaw Tay Whee School, made from four portables, with its separate and undersized gymnasium.
“The school must be replaced with a proper gymnasium attached so the students do not have to walk to outside even during the season winter months to access it,” he said, adding a new facility could serve multiple needs in the community.
Kaw Tay Whee School gymnasium is fully detached from the main building. (Photo courtesy of the school via Facebook)
Edjericon also highlighted another education concern in his riding: the K’àlemì Dene School is severely over-capacity.
“Within just a few years of the new school opening (in 2009), the growing need of community began to exceed the K’àlemì Dene School capacity,” he told Education Minister Caitlin Cleveland. “Currently, the school is supporting over 162 students, when the numbers should not exceed 120 to ensure appropriate classroom sizes.
“These concerns were brought forward almost a decade ago, during the 18th Assembly. Yet, it was later learned in 2020 that other priorities took precedence over both of the these projects, being included into the capital plans. So far, we can’t even secure the funding needed to plan for these projects.”
Edjericon said education is a treaty right, a fact being ignored by the GNWT.
And later in the sitting, Minister Semmler suggested people requiring non-urgent medical or dental care in communities from outside of Yellowknife might want to wait until “the summer when there’s no Northern Lights,” as a boost in the number of tourists means all the best places to stay are booked.
“I’ve been recently briefed. It seems that Yellowknife is experiencing a rise in tourism right now and which is putting additional pressure in an already strained system,” Semmler said in response to a question by Inuvik Boot Lake MLA Denny Rogers about medical travel.
Semmler acknowledged the Keskorie Boarding Home, run by the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, is often fully booked and there have been concerns over poor conditions at a downtown hotel used as a backup.
The health authority is asking practitioners and staff to be considerate of booking non-urgent medical appointments to Yellowknife right now, (and we’re) working with Indigenous Services Canada to advise NIHB patients travelling for dental to consider booking non-urgent appointments and travel at another date.”
