Variants Account For More Than Half of 11 Active Cases in Kahnawake
Written by Paul Graif on 10 May 2021
There are 11 active cases of COVID-19 in Kahnawake. Lisa Westaway, the Executive Director of the Kateri Memorial Hospital Center (KMHC), appearing on the Morning D on K1037, said a good deal of those positives are the results of variants.
“We still have a cluster that’s related to a variant, and that’s the UK variant,” Westaway said. “It’s not a surprise to us because this is the variant that is most prominent within Quebec. It accounts for more than 50 percent of the variant cases in Quebec. We expect to have this. What we see is that the vaccine is effective against it, However, it is much more transmissible and therefore vaccination is helpful.”
The vaccination site at the Bingo Hall on Highway 138 in Kahnawake will reopen on Thursday and Friday to begin administering second doses of the Pfizer vaccine. Those will be for front line workers from the KMHC, KSCS, the Fire Brigade and from the Kahnawake Peacekeepers. There will also be some doses for 16 and 17 year old’s from the community who want to receive a first dose. Those will be by appointment only.
So far the vaccine has not been authorized for those between the age of 12- and 15 years old in Kahnawake.
The Pharmacy at the KMHC has begun to administer first doses as well, by appointment only. 10 community members were vaccinated on Saturday.
