COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic this Saturday

This Saturday, July 17, from 10am to 12pm, the Nawash Health Centre is holding a COVID-19 vaccination clinic at Kikendaasogamig Elementary School and it is by appointment ONLY. The clinic is open to all members of the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation in the Grey Bruce area and their immediate family, 12 years and older.

To book an appointment, please call the Health Centre at 519-534-0373 or the Community Health Nurse at 519-378-6028.

Priority Group: All members of Chippewas of Nawash in the Grey Bruce area, and their immediate family, 12 years old or older
Dose: This is a first and second dose clinic
Time: 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Location: Kikendaasogamig Elementary School at 45 Farm Road, Neyaashiinigmiing
Register: Please call the Nawash Health Centre at 519-534-0373 or the Community Health Nurse at 519-378-6028

If you haven’t been vaccinated yet, we look forward to seeing you at a vaccination clinic soon! Let’s work together to help bring this pandemic to an end. Your vaccination protects you, our youth, and those who can’t tolerate the vaccine for other medical reasons. Whether vaccinated or not, all community members are asked to continue to observe pandemic protocols to help keep the community safe.

  • Wear a mask outside your home.
  • Wash your hands frequently.
  • Watch your distance and stay 2 meters away from people you don’t live with.

Kikendaasogamig and Nshiime Closed as New COVID-19 Case Discovered

Board of Education officials have announced that an additional case of COVID-19 has been identified in Kikendaasogamig Elementary School. To protect community safety, the Board of Education, with the support of the Council, has closed Kikendaasogamig for the remainder of the school year. Nshiime Child and Family Centre will close for one week, June 28 to July 2, as we monitor the situation in the community. We apologize for the inconvenience to families as we respond to the evolving circumstances.

The Chief and Council stress that there is no cause for alarm.  Grey Bruce Public Health, with the assistance of our Community Health Nurse, is conducting contact tracing for the identified cases. The needs of the affected individuals and families are being met by the Health Centre and volunteers. Neyaashiinigmiing remains safe and we have no plans to close the community.

Case counts are on the rise in Grey Bruce however, and more infectious mutations of the virus, known as “variants of concern”, are spreading. This includes the currently infamous Delta variant that has received recent media attention. The Community Emergency Response Group and the Council assess the state of the pandemic in Grey Bruce daily. If the situation changes dramatically, be assured that we are prepared to respond as necessary.

We need the community’s help in keeping us all safe. The virus spreads when we stop being vigilant, let our guard down, and stop taking the reasonable precautions that have worked to protect us. The situation still demands that we remain focused on safety fundamentals, even as the number of new cases falls provincially and Ontario proceeds with the 3-step reopening plan. Remember to:

  • Wear a facemask outside your home, even when you are with friends and extended family.
  • Keep your distance from people you don’t live with, even when you are with friends and extended family.
  • Wash your hands frequently and avoid touching your face.

The Saugeen First Nation has locked down to halt the spread of a growing number of cases in their community. We are all alarmed and concerned for our sister community, and all of our close friends and relations there. To help their able leadership and very competent health staff deal with the outbreak, we advise CNUFN members to respect their lockdown and avoid all unnecessary travel in and out of SFN.

To protect our community, for the long term, and bring this pandemic to an end, we need to reach “herd immunity”. Herd immunity simply means that with enough immune people in the herd (that’s us), the virus has no new victims to infect and eventually dies out or poses no threat of widespread outbreak. The vaccinated herd immunity strategy has worked against diseases like polio, measles, mumps, rubella, small pox and more. These are diseases that used to be a constant threat, but we don’t need to fear any more because enough people have been vaccinated.

To reach herd immunity in the Neyaashiinigmiing, we need to vaccinate 75% of every man, woman and child who is normally in the community (including non-members, staff, etc). Children under 12 can’t yet be vaccinated, and some people with medical conditions can’t tolerate the vaccine. That means to reach herd immunity we need to vaccinate almost everybody 12 years and older, who can tolerate the vaccine. Your vaccination doesn’t just protect you from serious illness or death, it protects our children, our vulnerable, and our elders.

The most important thing you can do today, to help our families, our communities and our nation, is to make an appointment for the COVID-19 vaccination. It is proven safe and very effective, including against variants of concern that have arisen so far. Our next vaccination clinic is scheduled for Saturday, July 17. To make an appointment, you can book online, or call the Health Centre at 519-534-0373 during normal business hours.

July 17 COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic

The Nawash Health Centre is holding a COVID-19 vaccination clinic Saturday, July 17, from 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM at the Kikendaasogamig Elementary School, by appointment ONLY. This clinic is open to all members of the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation in the Grey Bruce area, and their immediate families, 12 years old or older.

Call the Nawash Health Centre at 519-534-0373 to make your vaccination appointment, or register online.

Priority Group: All members of Chippewas of Nawash in the Grey Bruce area, and their immediate family, 12 years old or older.
Dose: This is a first dose and second dose clinic.
Time: 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Location: Kikendaasogamig Elementary School, Neyaashiinigmiing
Register: Please call the Nawash Health Centre at 519-534-0373, or register online

If you have not been vaccinated yet, we look forward to seeing you at a vaccination clinic soon! Let’s work together to help bring this pandemic to and end. Your vaccination protects you, our youth, and those who can’t tolerate the vaccine for other medical reasons. Whether vaccinated or not, all community members are asked to continue to observe pandemic protocols to help keep the community safe.

  • Wear a mask outside your home.
  • Wash your hands frequently.
  • Watch your distance and stay 2 meters away from people you don’t live with.

Council Adopts Reopening Plan for Neyaashiinigmiing

We are pleased to announce that the Council has accepted and approved the recommended Reopening Plan for Neyaashiinigmiing, most of which will come into effect on June 14, 2021. The CNUFN Council has been carefully monitoring the state of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, and conditions in Neyaashiinigmiing. Vaccination levels continue to improve across the province and case counts are dropping steadily. The provincial Stay at Home order ended on June 2, 2021, although the province-wide Emergency Brake and associate regulations will remain in effect until Ontario enters Step 1 of its Reopening plan. We can now gather outdoors, in groups of up to 5 people from different households.

While this does not mark the end of the pandemic or completely remove the risk of an outbreak, conditions have considerably improved. We can now begin taking safe, measured, responsible steps to reopening the community.

The Community Emergency Response Group struck an ad hoc Reopening Committee to create a plan for the safe and responsible reopening of Neyaashiinigmiing. The committee members were Cynthia Jamieson, Acting First Nations Administrator; Cynthia Porter, Health Manager; Amy Ingram, Supervisor of Social Services; Councilor Nick Saunders; Judy Nadjiwan, Board of Education Administrator; Patrick Nadjiwan, Legal Counsel; and Dr. Ian Arra, Grey Bruce Medical Officer of Health. The committee’s recommendations balanced our ongoing need to reduce the risk of a dangerous outbreak in the community, with the widespread desire to see life begin to return to normal.

Our plan is specific to the situation in Neyaashiinigmiing, although we will observe the province’s direction as Ontario moves into subsequent steps of the provincial reopening plan. We cannot exceed the speed of the provincial reopening, but we can go slower if we feel it would be better for the community. This is only a first step in what will be a multi-phase reopening process. We look forward to seeing more of our relations and friends (in small groups, for now) as the danger of the pandemic recedes.

We encourage everybody who is eligible for, and can tolerate a vaccine, to be vaccinated against COVID-19 at the earliest opportunity. We are holding a clinic in the community on Saturday, June 19, for members and their immediate families as young as 12 years old. If you haven’t been vaccinated yet, register online today, or call the Nawash Health Centre at 519-534-0373. Let’s continue working together to help bring this pandemic to an end. Your vaccination protects you, our youth, and those who can’t tolerate the vaccine for other medical reasons.

Whether vaccinated or not, all community members are asked to continue to observe pandemic protocols to help keep the community safe.

  • Wear a mask outside your home.
  • Wash your hands frequently.
  • Watch your distance and stay 2 meters away from people you don’t live with.

Vaccinating Adolescents Against COVID-19

Health Canada recently expanded the approved ages for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to include 12-15 old adolescents. The Nawash Health Centre has since received a number of requests for COVID-19 vaccinations for youth family members.

Our vaccination clinics are operated in cooperation with the Grey Bruce Public Health Unit, which distributes the available vaccines. We have been advised by Dr. Ian Arra, the Grey Bruce Medical Officer of Health, that Ontario provincial health authorities have not yet provided direction to health units in the province about administering the vaccine to youth.

While we will make the vaccine available to all members and their families who are eligible to receive it, as soon as we are able, we cannot give the vaccine to the 12-15 year old age group yet. Dr. Arra suggests that eligible youth may begin vaccinations in June or July, with the goal of having them fully vaccinated by the start of the new school year in September.

We will update the community and members as we receive new information regarding COVID-19 vaccine availability.

Whether vaccinated or not, all community members are asked to continue to observe pandemic protocols to help keep the community safe.

  • Wear a mask outside your home.
  • Wash your hands frequently.
  • Watch your distance and stay 2 meters away from people you don’t live with.

Upcoming First-Dose COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic

The Nawash Health Centre is holding a first-dose COVID-19 vaccination clinic Saturday, May 15, from 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM at the Kikendaasogamig Elementary School, by appointment ONLY. This clinic is open to all members of the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation, Saugeen First Nation or other First Nations persons in the Grey Bruce area, 16 years or older. Call the Nawash Health Centre at 519-534-0373 to make your vaccination appointment, or register online.

Priority Group: All members of Chippewas of Nawash, Saugeen First Nation or other First Nations persons in the Grey Bruce area, 16 years or older
Dose: This is a first dose clinic, but we will have a limited number of second doses for persons who have not yet received their second shots.
Time: 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Location: Kikendaasogamig Elementary School, Neyaashiinigmiing
Register: Please call the Nawash Health Centre at 519-534-0373, or register online

The COVID-19 pandemic is emotionally challenging for everybody. It’s been a difficult year, separated from our extended families and friends, the activities that bring us joy and relaxation, and even unable to meet with co-workers. Happily, approved and safe COVID-19 vaccines are finally offering a way out of this worldwide crisis. Widespread vaccination is our eventual path back to normalcy and control over our own lives. A vaccine isn’t just a shot in the arm – it’s a little dose of hope.

The decision to get vaccinated is a personal choice, one with potential implications for the health and safety of people around you as well. We will continue to share vaccine information and make vaccinations available to members who want them. We encourage everybody who is eligible for, and can tolerate the vaccine, to be vaccinated at the earliest opportunity.

If you have not been vaccinated yet, we look forward to seeing you at a vaccination clinic soon! Whether vaccinated or not, all community members are asked to continue to observe pandemic protocols to help keep the community safe.

  • Wear a mask outside your home.
  • Wash your hands frequently.
  • Watch your distance and stay 2 meters away from people you don’t live with.

Stay-at-home Order Announced for the Entire Province

As has been expected for days, the Ontario government announced on April 7, 2021 that the province would enter a period of lockdown beginning April 8, in response to an alarming spike in the number of COVID-19 cases. The move by the province comes on the heels of what officials had called an “emergency brake”, also aimed at stopping the rise in cases.

The new stay-at-home order is a more concerted attempt to prevent the virus from running out of control before widespread vaccinations have a chance to dampen the spread. The shutdown is expected to last a minimum of 4 weeks.

In Neyaashiinigmiing, the CNUFN Council had already imposed a lockdown in concert with the emergency brake, following the guidelines for a Grey Zone in the province’s Emergency Response Framework. As that is the highest level of prevention and preparedness, additional measures will not be imposed in the community of Neyaashiinigmiing at this time.

Band Offices and Programs are expected to remain open until further notice. In-person staff levels may be impacted, depending on the office, as well the number of in-person services available to the public during the lockdown. Before visiting an office, please call ahead to confirm that the office is open and the specific service you’re seeking is available.

We want to assure all residents and members that our community remains safe and healthy. We know that another lockdown is frustrating and unwelcome, but each day and every vaccination brings us a step closer to the end of the pandemic and recovery from the profound impact this health crisis has had on our community.

If you have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 yet, please call the Nawash Health Centre at 519-534-0373 to schedule your potentially life-saving shot. Whether you have been vaccinated or not, keep the people around you safe and continue to follow pandemic safety protocols.

  • Wear a mask outside your home.
  • Wash your hands frequently.
  • Watch your distance and remain at least 2 meters from people you don’t live with.

We are immensely grateful for the patience, strength and support of all our community members. Stay healthy, stay strong! Miigwech!