Moderna vaccine made available to Nuu-Chah-Nulth. First Nations a Priority says Dr. Bonnie Henry

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Afternoon Ferries Cancelled

BC's Ferries has cancelled all afternoon sailings between the lower mainland and Vancouver Island. The decision was made last night, after Environment Canada issued a high wind warning, forcasting winds of up to 90 km/h along the east coast of Vancouver Island. Ferries spokesperson Deborah Marshall says lower traffic volumes, due to COVID-19 made it easier to make the call to suspend the sailings long before the bad weather set in.

"Our traffic, actually over the past little while has been down about 60 per cent in vehicles for the major routes and close to 75 per cent in passengers so it certainly makes it a lot easier, if we do have to cancel sailings for high winds, that we're not affecting as many customers."—BC Ferrie Spokesperson Deborah Marshall.

Marshall says the ferry corporation will decide by late afternoon, whether any sailings will go ahead this evening.

First Nations a priority says Dr. Bonnie Henry

Vaccines have started rolling out at six first nations communities on Vancouver Island. The provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, says the remote communities are a priority because they do not have critical health care facilities and are ill equipped to manage outbreaks.

“And yes, we absolutely will be hitting that mark over this next couple of weeks. If not today, I will say as well that if we're looking at getting to the point of herd immunity that we're going to have to scale up even more than that, once vaccine becomes available.”—Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.

Just over 1000 doses of the Moderna vaccine is being made available in selected Nu-Chul-Nuth communities in phase one. It is being offered to everyone over the age of 18, with the exception of pregnant women and nursing mothers. The vice chair of the Nu-Chul-Nulth Tribal Council says the vaccine's arrival has brought a sense of excitement and hope to the communities But, Mariah Charleson says with hope, comes some vaccine reluctance as well.

"The worry is that many of our people, there's a long standing history of oppression from the health care system as well as the government of Canada and so there's lots of reluctance there, so we're really trying to work on the positive messaging and sharing as much information about the vaccine as we can so people feel well informed about taking the vaccine.”—Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council Vice-President, Mariah Charleson (łučinƛcuta).

Charleson says it helps that the vaccine is being administered by first nations nurses who are culturally sensitive. She says community leaders including Chief Robert Dennis of the Hu-ay-aht First Nation are among the first in line to demonstrate the vaccine is safe and effective. The province has said it plans to immunize 25,000 indigenous people in remote BC communities by the end of January, with the remainder vaccinated by the end of March.

We'll bring you the latest COVID-19 numbers on our next newscast at 6 p.m.