Indigenous people living in northern Manitoba are being encouraged by community leaders to get the flu shot.
Monday morning MKO Grand Chief Garrison Settee and Elder Joshua Morris received their seasonal immunizations. They are asking others to do the same.
“Getting the flu vaccine is very important especially if you or the people around you are at an increased risk of serious illness,” said Settee.
Morris, who is from Split Lake but now lives in Winnipeg, said every fall there are many people in his home community who get sick with the flu.
“I hear people, I don’t know why, but they’re scared to get the flu shot and that’s why they don’t want to go,” Morris said. “But I encourage them to go and get the flu shot once a year, every year.”
The 68-year-old told CTV News he gets the vaccine every year to boost his immune system especially since he found out that he has Type 2 diabetes.
“As an elder your immune system is practically shot to hell so you need all the help you can get to stay healthy,” he said with a smirk.
According to Manitoba’s chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin, getting the flu shot is important for Indigenous people because they are at an increased risk for serious illness.
“When we look at higher-risk groups we look at individuals with chronic medical conditions like diabetes, heart disease, renal disease and we know that in Indigenous communities we do see higher prevalence of some these conditions,” Roussin explained.
“We know from the past we see higher rates of the flu and complications from the flu in Indigenous communities so they are listed as a priority group in Manitoba.”
He added that because Indigenous people are a priority group, First Nation communities are among the first in Manitoba to get shipments of the flu vaccine.
“Vaccination not only protects yourself but people around you and reducing those complications,” he said. “We know that we see a number of people presenting with flu-like symptoms during the flu season and many of those people have not been vaccinated, and so we really look to reduce the strain on healthcare, reduce the burden on individuals and on communities by getting high rates of the flu vaccine uptake.”
Roussin also said the overall vaccination rate in Manitoba is around 23 to 24 per cent, but in many First Nations communities the rate is lower.
A spokesperson for Indigenous Services Canada said it does not track vaccination rates for the flu shot, and a spokeserson for Manitoba's Northern Health Region said the rate there hovered around 15 per cent between 2015 to 2018.
In a press release Settee encouraged people to get the shot sooner rather than later because the flu vaccine takes two weeks to start working.
The annual seasonal flu vaccine is available for free and anyone can get it from their health care provider or at pharmacies across Manitoba.
