As part of Operation Remote Immunity 3.0 (ORI), COVID-19 vaccination clinics are returning to the northern fly-in communities in the James and Hudson Bay region.
The mass clinics will be offering booster shots for those eligible as well as first and second doses for all ages including children aged five and over.
Anyone aged 16 and over will be eligible for a booster shot if they received their second dose at least three months (84 days) ago.
The clinics will run starting Monday, Jan. 24 until Feb. 11.
Weeneebayko Area Health Authority (WAHA) will lead the vaccination campaign in partnership with First Nation community partners, the Public Health Unit, Indigenous Services Canada, ORNGE and others.
The vaccination clinics will be held in Peawanuck, Moosonee, Attawapiskat, Fort Albany and Kashechewan. Additional details about the time and location of the clinics will be announced in the coming days.
Local community health centres may continue to host clinics independently before ORI starts, reads WAHA’s update on the website. People are advised to contact their local public health centre for more information about vaccination opportunities near them.
Over 16 mass clinics took place in the James and Hudson Bay region during the first phase of ORI held between Nov. 22 and Dec. 17, 2021.
More than 1,600 COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered, about 900 of which were booster shots, said Kiana Seidel, WAHA’s manager of corporate communications and stakeholder engagement.
“Communities have also been independently running clinics whenever possible which are not included in the ORI 3.0 figures, leaving our vaccination rate even higher,” Seidel said.
Canadian Armed Forces Rangers will be supporting the ORI campaign, according to the federal government's Nov. 13 announcement.
Their support started Nov. 15 and will continue until March 31.
For more information about the eligibility and interval periods between the doses, click here.
