Nunavut to start vaccinating youth aged 12-17 on June 15

Youth in Nunavut will be able to receive a COVID-19 vaccine starting next month, health officials announced Monday.

Nunavummiut aged 12 to 17 will be eligible for doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the same vaccine used in youth vaccination campaigns in N.W.T. and Yukon, starting June 15.

The vaccine was approved for use in children as young as 12 by Health Canada on May 5.

Mass clinics in Pangnirtung, Pond Inlet and Clyde River from June 15-17 will start off the vaccination campaign, while Iqaluit will hold its own mass clinic at the Iqaluit Curling Clubfrom June 16-19.

The clinics were made possible by a trade of Moderna vaccines for Pfizer doses with Ontario, Dr. Michael Patterson, the territory's chief public health officer, confirmed.

"Right now, the priority will be on youth," he told reporters Friday. But those who have received a first dose of Pfizer in another jurisdiction can be added to a waitlist at their local health centre, to receive a second dose "if they have doses left over that would otherwise go to waste."

Most second doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be available at mass clinics in mid- to late July.

Residents of six communities Chesterfield Inlet, Grise Fiord, Kimmirut, Resolute Bay, Qikiqtarjuaq, and Sanirajak will need to make an appointment at their local health centre to receive either dose of the vaccine.

Also on Friday, Patterson said the territory's vaccination rates are high enough, amid dropping active case numbers, to ease some public health restrictions put in place in the wake of an outbreak in Iqaluit.

As of Monday, there are nine active cases of COVID-19 in Iqaluit. No new cases were reported in the territory Monday.

Full list of Pfizer clinic dates

Youth aged 12 to 17 will be eligible to receive a first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at the following times:

• In Arctic Bay, June 17-18 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Health Centre.

• In Arviat, every Saturday starting June 19 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Health Centre.

• In Baker Lake, from June 24-26 from noon to 9 p.m. at the Community Arena.

• In Cambridge Bay, from June 28-30 between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. at the Health Centre.

• In Chesterfield Inlet, by appointment at the Health Centre starting June 21.

• In Clyde River, from June 15-17 at the Quluaq School, between noon and 9 p.m.

• In Coral Harbour, on June 22 between noon and 9 p.m. at the Health Centre.

• In Grise Fiord, by appointment at the Health Centre starting June 17.

• In Gjoa Haven, on June 21-22 between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. at the Health Centre.

• In Igloolik, from June 16-18 between noon and 9 p.m. at the Community Hall.

• In Iqaluit, from June 16-19 at the Curling Club between 1 p.m. and 10 p.m. No appointments are needed.

• In Kimmirut, by appointment at the Health Centre starting June 18.

• In Kinngait, on June 18, 19, and 21 at the Small Community Hall's Sewing Centre from noon to 9 p.m.

• In Kugaaruk, on June 18-19 between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. at the Health Centre.

• In Kugluktuk, on July 5-6 between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. at the Health Centre.

• In Naujaat, on June 16-17 between 1 p.m. and 9 p.m. at the Health Centre.

• In Pangnirtung, from June 15-17 between noon and 9 p.m. at the Community Hall.

• In Pond Inlet, from June 15-17 between noon and 9 p.m. at Nasivvik High School.

• In Rankin Inlet, on June 22 only between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. at the Community Recreation Centre.

• In Resolute Bay, by appointment at the Health Centre starting June 17.

• In Qikiqtarjuaq, by appointment at the Health Centre starting June 15.

• In Sanikiluaq, on June 19 only between noon and 9 p.m. at the New Health Centre.

• In Sanirajak, by appointment at the Health Centre starting June 16.

• In Taloyoak, on June 24-25 between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. at the Health Centre.

• In Whale Cove, on June 19 only between noon and 9 p.m. at the Health Centre.