Haines Junction hits 81% vaccination rate, highest in Yukon

Haines Junction, Yukon, already boasts some of the most spectacular sceneryin the territory now it can also boast its impressive COVID-19 vaccination rate.

As of May 1, 88 per cent of all eligible people in the communityhad received at least one dose of the Moderna vaccine, and 81 per cent had received both doses.

That's the highest rate of vaccination among all Yukon communities, according to numbers released Wednesday by the territorial government.

The next-highest rate of vaccination is in the communities of Mayo, Keno and Stewart Crossing, which collectively had about 71 per cent of their eligible residents fully vaccinated as of May 1.

Ross River had the lowest rate, at 28 per cent.

Steve Smith, chief of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nation, said the numbers for his community are "heartening to see." The First Nations' traditional territory is in the Haines Junction area, and residents are counted there.

WATCH: Mobile vaccination clinic rolls intoHaines Junction in February:

Yukon mobile vaccine team gets warm welcome

4 years ago

Duration 11:26

Ice candles greeted the bus carrying COVID-19 vaccines to Haines Junction, Yukon, a hamlet of about 800 people. Deputy Mayor Angie Charlebois started the campaign with a post on the local Facebook group.

Smith said the First Nation, along with the Village of Haines Junction, worked hard to encourage people to get vaccinated, and to help make it possible for them.

"That meant if they needed a ride, if they needed support getting to the clinic, we made sure that we did that. And we got the message out early and frequently," he said.

Smith described the First Nation's efforts "almost like an election campaign."

He said that involved making sure that people had access to good information about the vaccine, to counter any misinformation.

He also said it was important to leadby example, so the First Nation would share photos and video on social media of councillors getting the shot.

"Our council is completely, 100 per cent vaccinated themselves," Smith said.

"It was important for our people to see that council was behind this, and we ourselves were getting vaccinated."

He's especially proud of the vaccination rate among younger people in Haines Junction, which is also the highest in the territory as of May 1.

Seventy-threeper cent of residents in that communityaged 18 to 29 had received at least their first dose by May 1, compared to 62 per cent of that age group in Whitehorse, and 18 per cent in Ross River (the lowest rate in the territory). Among all Yukoners aged 18 to 29, the vaccination rate wasat60 per cent.

"Our young people really stepped up," Smithsaid.

The highest vaccination rate high enough to be baffling for any age group in any community is for people in Old Crowaged 70 and up. According to the government's numbers, 110per cent had received their first dose and 105 per cent were fully vaccinated by May 1.

A health department spokesperson said the numbersare based on the last population survey, and since thenmore people have entered their70s.

'Pitting one community against another'

The decision to release community vaccination numbers comes just months after the premier dismissed the idea as potentially divisive.

"I don't think pitting one community against another community, as to one got 60 per cent and the other got 55,and then having everybody speculating or pointing fingers I don't think that's necessarily going to help the safety of Yukoners," Premier Sandy Silver said at a March 3 news conference.

He said at the time that health officials would provideinformation to municipal or First Nation leaders about their local vaccination rates, and let them decide what to do with those numbers.

But speaking on Wednesday, Health Minister Tracy-AnneMcPheesuggested it was just a question of compiling accurate data before releasing anything.

Haines Junction and the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations issued a news release touting their figures earlier this week, ahead of the government's release of all community data.