Manitoba Mtis 'left out' of COVID-19 vaccine program are going directly to manufacturers

The leader of the ManitobaMtis Federation is so concerned his people are being excluded from the province's COVID-19 immunizationprogram that he's going straight to the source and asking manufacturers to sell him doses.

MMFpresident David Chartrand says he's sent letters to Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and even Johnson & Johnson, whose vaccine is not yet approved for use in Canadabecause so far, his people have been"left out" of the process.

WATCH | Manitoba Mtis 'left out' of COVID-19 vaccine plan:

Mtis in Manitoba left out of COVID-19 vaccine plan

4 years ago

Duration 1:59

Head of Manitoba Mtis Federation says he'll try to buy doses straight from manufacturers.

"I'm sitting here with 125,000 people who are not included in the vaccine rollout by this province. So I'm pleading with these pharmaceutical companies, give me a chance," Chartrandsaid on Sunday.

"We are truly desperate."

The province began immunizing the general public age 95 and older on Wednesday, as well as First Nations people age 75 and older. The age differential for First Nations people is 20 years because the pandemic is disproportionately affecting them, the province has said.

The lower age group doesn't includeMtisor Inuit people, though. Manitoba Premier Brian Pallistersaid on Wednesdayhe would entertain reducing the eligibility age forMtis if it could be demonstrated they are at greater risk of experiencing more severe COVID-19 outcomes as First Nations leaders did.

"If there's science behind it, if it makes sense, we should proceed co-operatively to follow the science," he said.

Chartrand saidit's well-known that Mtis face many similar health problems and lower life expectancy.

"We need to go out ourselves. We've got to save our own people now. We've been doing it since the get go," Chartrand said.

Manitoba lagging behind others

Manitoba is an outlier in this case. Provinces like B.C., AlbertaandOntario have made all Indigenous adults priorities in their respectivevaccine rollouts, following federal direction.

Reagan Bartel, the director of health fortheMtisNation of Alberta says there's evidenceMtis people fare poorly when it comes to COVID-19.

"We know we have higher rates of COPD and other respiratory diseases, we know we have higher rates of diabetes, heart disease, we know we are impacted by other social determinants of health, such as housing concerns or educational concerns," she said.

Some of that evidence isn't well documented because she says there's chronic underfunding of research about Mtiscommunities.

Even so, theNational Advisory Committee on Immunizations (NACI), Canada's independent body on vaccinessays all Indigenous people, including First Nations, Mtis and Inuit, need priority vaccination.

"By excluding one of these three groups, you're not actually adhering to the guidelines that NACI is putting forward," Bartel said.

"The new guidelines use the umbrella term Indigenous and that includes Mtispeople and excluding us from that point of Indigenous prioritization is just another way that colonial powers are exercised."

ManitobaMtiselder Darlene Birch says she's not surprised her people are being excluded, but hopes she can get the vaccine soon.

"This is the home of the Mtispeople andwe have a history of of not having our needs met adequately and I think that it's a process, but I think that we do need to speak out," she said.

"I think that we need to, as Mtispeople, be strong and representative and say what we need with the government."