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Proof of Vaccination Passport: Moving Forward

Written by on 31 August 2021

Details of the 4th wave Covid-19 plan have been revealed. From Kahnawake 9-1-1 on Facebook Live, Grand Chief Kahsennenhawe Sky-Deer, Commissioner of Public Safety Lloyd Phillips and KMHC Executive Director Lisa Westaway presented their case for the COVID-19 Proof of Vaccination Passport and the plan moving forward for the community. Grand Chief Sky-Deer:

“When we talk about things from our cultural perspective, we always  say the the collective is more important the the individual. So what we’re asking right now is for Kahnawa’kehró:non to understand that it’s not vaccinated  versus unvaccinated or it’s not any group against each other but it’s team Kahnawake against the pandemic. And it’s happening everywhere you know that, there’s division, and there are people that are taking up words and violence against each other and I know Kahnàwake is better than that.”

Commissioner of Public Safety Lloyd Phillips says the decision was first announced in mid-August and reported on K1037 but it sparked a lot of debate.  He says with the 4th wave of the pandemic and the highly contagious Delta variant … there was little choice but to move forward with the plan:

“The proof of vaccination is something that is going to apply across the board in our community, again, not taken lightly, because if we do honestly and truly believe that this is the best way forward and it’s a perfect balance between health and safety and ensuring the economy can keep moving forward.”

Lisa Westaway saying the 4th wave is different:

“We saw the tsunami coming from far away, kind of the way we did the pandemic last March and we had a warning. We had an early 2 outbreaks related to the Delta variant that showed us very quickly what we were in-for and how we needed to respond quickly in order to save lives and to continue on this path to recovery. That warning for us was the start of preparation and reinforcement and armour and this was when the initial announcement was made about moving forward with proof of vaccination measures.”

The new plan to be made available to the community involves a colour-scheme similar to the set up in the 1st three waves of the pandemic, with each level of risk increasing measures that will be implemented in the community. At the current state, Kahnawake with 23 cases is at the Red or High-Risk category.


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