All Indigenous peoples ages 18 and up are now eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine.
The First Nations Health Authority made the announcement Thursday (March 31). While Indigenous peoples living on reserve and in remote communities have already been offered their first dose, the FNHA said this would allow for Indigenous peoples who live elsewhere to get vaccinated. There is no requirement to provide proof of ancestry and all Indigenous peoples, whether status or non-status First Nations, Metis or Inuit, may register.
All people living in a First Nations community have already been offered a dose under the “whole communities” strategy, but if they have not yet gotten the vaccine, they can still register to receive one.
Indigenous people who wish to get a vaccine should call the call centre for the health authority they live in. Call centres will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day, with reduced hours on statutory holidays. Call centre operators will ask for a legal name, date of birth, postal code, personal health number, phone number and an email address. They will not ask for banking or credit card information, nor for social insurance numbers.
The phone number for the call centres are below:
- Fraser Health Authority: 1-855-755-2455
- Interior Health Authority: 1-877-740-7747
- Northern Health Authority: 1-844-255-7555
- Vancouver Coastal Health Authority: 1-877-587-5767
- Vancouver Island Health Authority : 1-833-348-4787
These regional call centres will shut down April 18 and will ve replaced with a single phone number for all of B.C.. An online provincial registration and booking system is scheduled to launch on April 6.
READ MORE: No link between colonialism and vaccine hesitancy among Indigenous people: expert
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