Good morning, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented the Northwest Territories and its residents, communities, and businesses with many challenges. I know all residents are now well into the COVID-19 fatigue stage. We all want to see things back to normal and public health measures lifted.
Mr. Speaker, since the start of the pandemic, protecting NWT residents against COVID-19 has been this government's biggest priority. We have known from the start that vaccines would be an essential part of our strategy and it is one of the most important factors the Chief Public Health Officer is considering in her decision-making about easing restrictions.
Getting vaccinated is the most important thing people can do to protect themselves and their communities from the COVID-19 virus. Many residents across the territory continue to make the choice to get vaccinated to protect their loved ones and I want to thank everyone who has made that decision.
As of May 25th, 60 percent of NWT residents 18 years of age and older are fully vaccinated and 68 percent have received their first dose.
Additionally, since the announcement on May 5th to expand our COVID-19 vaccine program to include the Pfizer-BioNTech product, which is approved for the 12- to 17-year-old age group, almost 1200 young people from Yellowknife, Dettah, Ndilo and Behchoko have already received their first dose. I want to thank all the young people who have come forward to be vaccinated so far.
Not only are you protecting yourselves from COVID-19, but you are adding another layer of protection to your community and the territory. You should be very proud. Thank you, colleagues.
To the youth who are still considering whether the vaccine is right for them, check out the territorial medical director's video which will be coming out shortly. Dr. Pegg answers questions from NWT youth about COVID-19 vaccines to help you make an informed decision.
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to thank the parents, guardians, teachers, and health care providers who have taken the time to talk with youth in their lives about the COVID-19 vaccine.
Now that an additional 3,510 doses of Pfizer have arrived in the NWT, we are ready to continue school-based clinics for youth aged 12 to 17 in all other communities. This week, we started with the regional hubs of Hay River, Fort Smith, and Inuvik, and teams will move on to other more remote communities in the following weeks.
The GNWT plans to offer youth in all NWT communities at least one dose of the vaccine before the end of the school year. Details will be updated on the online vaccine schedule on an ongoing basis.
Mr. Speaker, the NWT has just come through a difficult period because of an outbreak declared at a Yellowknife school. This outbreak resulted in schools closing for a short period in Yellowknife, Dettah, Ndilo and Bechoko and the introduction of new measures such as mandatory masking for indoor public spaces in these communities.
The decisive action by the Office of the Chief Public Health Officer contained the outbreak to 71 cases. There was no community spread and all COVID-19 infections from this outbreak occurred in students and staff from the school or their households while they were in isolation.
I would like to express my thanks to our dedicated health care staff for their work in this outbreak - working long hours to identify contacts of the outbreak and get individuals tested. Thank you, colleagues.
I would also like to express my gratitude to all the support staff, including 8-1-1 staff, communications and policy staff who worked hard to and moved quickly to get the information out to the public. There was a substantial amount of information and it changed quickly. These communications professionals did their best to support the needs of residents during that time.
Finally, I would like to thank the people who were required to isolate during the outbreak. I know this has been very difficult for many of you but without all of you isolating responsibly and doing what was required under difficult circumstances, this outbreak could have turned out much differently. For that, the government and residents thank you.
Mr. Speaker, while this outbreak demanded our focus for the past three weeks, the Office of the Chief Public Health Officer continues to work on updating Emerging Wisely, the plan to ease public health measures gradually and safely.
I know we are all eagerly awaiting the release of this updated plan. The Chief Public Health Officer has said it will be released in June. It will remove the phased approach in the original Emerging Wisely and look at external and internal factors to determine what measures can be eased with an emphasis on personal responsibility for mitigation of an individual or household's risk.
Overall vaccine uptake in the NWT will be a key internal factor to determine what measures can be eased. This is the best measure to ensure residents are protected and we can re-open with confidence.
The updated Emerging Wisely will also look at final travel and border restrictions being lifted once COVID-19 cases decrease in Canada and vaccination rates rise across the country.
Mr. Speaker, I know keeping COVID-19 at bay has been a long and difficult battle and we have asked a lot of residents, communities, and businesses for the past 14 months. I would like to thank them all for stepping up.
With the COVID-19 situation improving beyond our borders and with the updated Emerging Wisely outlining the path forward in the NWT pandemic response, we can look forward to easing public health measures over the coming weeks and months. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.