Get flu shots, Yukon chiefs urge First Nations

Yukon First Nations leaders rolled up their sleeves Wednesday and got their swine flu shots in order to encourage their communities to do the same.

Chiefs with the Yukon Council of First Nations lined up in Whitehorseto getvaccinated against the H1N1 influenza A virus that causes swine flu. They are meeting in the city this week as part of a territory-wide campaign to encourage people to get the H1N1 vaccine.

Health officials are especially urging First Nations people toget immunized, but chiefs say it has been a harder sell because of some of thehistorical stigma associated with past flu pandemics as well as recent missteps with regard to the current strain of swine flu.

Gwich'in Tribal Council president Richard Nerysoo said that although no one helped Northern peoples in earlier flu pandemics, today,there is a way for everyone, including First Nations people, to fight the flu.

"We can take advantage of it,"Nerysoo told CBC News. "Historically, we weren't able to do that, and today, we have the opportunity."

Council of Yukon First Nations Grand Chief Andy Carvill acknowledged that some people might be discouraged by a recent flu-related public relations fiasco in which Health Canada mistakenly sent body bags to a northern Manitoba reserve.

But Carvill said given people are dying from swine flu, there is no real reason tonot getthe H1N1 flu shot.

"When you turn on the news and you see what's happening in other parts of the country, and [the] unfortunate circumstances of people losing their lives to this epidemic, then I can't stress enough the importance of the people getting out there and getting their shots," he said.

Carvill said Yukon health officials have been updating them regularly and getting the word out to First Nations communities about the swine flu pandemic.

"So, I think they're doing a good job here in the Yukon with respect to getting the message out there and visiting the communities and the public awareness," Carvill said.

Health-care workers are administering two shots the H1N1 vaccine and a seasonal flu vaccine to Yukoners who want it over the next few weeks.

There were lineups over one hour long on Wednesday morning at a flu clinic at the Kwanlin Dun health centre in Whitehorse.

Flu vaccine clinics are also open Wednesday at the Canada Games Centre and in communities across the territory. A complete schedule is on the Yukon Health Department's website.