Officials apologize after more than 200 vaccine doses pulled from remote B.C. community

Senior health officials in British Columbia have apologized to the Nuxalk Nation after a medical health officer withdrew more than 200COVID-19 vaccine doses that Indigenous leaders had been told were intended for their people.

Following a succession of technical and communication problems during a vaccine rollout in remote Bella Coola, B.C., by Vancouver Coastal Healthin January, medical health officer Dr. John Harding promptly removed his team from the community after fewer than 100 doses had been administered, according to internal emails and an audio recording obtained by CBCNews.

Nuxalk leaders were also shocked whenHarding referredto the vaccine as a "gift" to the nation.

The planned inoculation drive in Bella Coola was part of the B.C. government's aim torollout theModerna vaccine across the province's remote Indigenous communities, which have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and often have poor access to health care.

In the audio recording, Dr. Jeffrey Peimer, a medical director withVancouver Coastal Health (VCH), is heard tellingNuxalk leaders that Harding was upsetover what he calledan "aggressive" and "shocking" email sent to him byNuxalkexecutive directorWilma Mack, andas a result, Hardingtook the vaccine back to the Lower Mainland.

Harding left the community with an RCMP escort on Jan. 22, five days after arriving,because he thought people were going to"stick him up,"Peimeralso says in the recording.

But in emails to the NuxalkNation health team,Harding states that he withdrew his teambecause he was "deeply saddened" that the Nuxalkhadn'tcreateda vaccine rolloutplan overnight.

VCHconfirmed that Harding took 230vaccine doses meant for Bella Coolaback to Vancouver, but the health authority would not disclose why.

"For it to unravel so quickly was just so disheartening," said Nuxalk director of health Kirsten Milton,who was part of thevaccine rollout in her community.

Milton said shefeltguilt-riddentellingelders and health-care workers theywould nolongerbe inoculated.

Technical, communications troubles

Harding anda team fromVCH arrived in Bella Coola on Jan.17, a day earlierthan planned, to avoid asnowstorm.

At least one VCH nurse and two Nuxalk nurses were distributing the vaccine together.

Emails exchanged between Harding's team and the Nuxalk show a plan was putin place to provide the first dose of the vaccine to 110 members ofthe on-reserve community, starting with elders over the age of 65, followed bythose 55 and upand thenimmunocompromised people.

There was also a separate plan to vaccinate 110off-reserve health-care workers at the Bella CoolaGeneral Hospital.

On Jan. 19, about75elders, aged 65 and older, who liveon the reserve received a first dose of the vaccine from the Nuxalk health team. But the nextday, the teamstarted to faceserious technical difficulties.

A VCH nurse sent an email to the Provincial Health Services Authority stating that the team wasstruggling with "very inconsistent Wi-Fi"and that she wastethering internet service from her cellphone, which posed security issues.

The nurse also said theFirst Nations Health Authority and VCHcomputer systems were not compatible, creatingfurther issues a fact that was confirmed byNuxalk health leaders.

As a result, they were unable to add information into the system about who would be getting the vaccinesomething Harding said he needed prior to anyone getting vaccinated.

The nurse's email concluded that she didn't see "a feasible option" to work out thetechnicalissues.

Plan deadline missed by 2 minutes

On top of technical difficulties,the community and Harding werefacinga communications breakdown.

At a ceremony to welcomeHarding and the vaccine, the medical officer statedhe brought up more vaccine than expected 360 doses to inoculatethe entire community, said Milton, Nuxalk's director of health.

But in numerous emailssent onJan.19and 20, Harding gives unclearrecommendations about how to"best protectthe community" suggestingit should include elderly and immunocompromised people in theentire Bella CoolaValley, not just those on reserve and health workers, as initially discussed. According to census documents, the population of the region is about2,000.

WithHarding's email suggestingpriority was moving to off-reserve individuals,Wilma Mack sent hima shortemail on Jan.21outlining her concernsthat the most vulnerable people in her community would not get vaccinated.

She ended bysaying: "The Nuxalk Nation demands that 250 of the 360 Moderna vaccines be released immediately to our Nuxalk Nation Registered Nursing team."

About 30 minutes later, at 5:21 p.m., Harding replied, telling the Nuxalkthat ifa "plan" was not providedby 10 a.m. the next morning, "the vaccine will no longer be available."

The community provided a plan at 10:02 a.m., but Harding said it missed the deadline.

Harding left the communityshortly after with the vaccine and an RCMP escort.

Before he left, Harding sent the Nuxalk health team an email saying, "VCH will honour its promise to gift a total of 110 doses to Nuxalk," and added:"As 10 vials in total were already gifted since arrival, one remaining vial has been left at the Bella Coola hospital."

"That was unbelievably unacceptable," Milton said.

"No one would ever call public health a gift. That to me showed the privilege we do not have."

Iris Siwallace, a Nuxalk cultural leader who heads up the nation's Emergency OperationsCentre team, said she believes systemic racism was at play.

"It really made me feel disheartened," she said.

Health officials apologize to Nuxalk

VCH would not respond to specific questions nor grantCBCNews an interview with Harding.

But in a statement, VCHboard chairDr. Penny Ballemsaidshe"deeply regrets that we failed to providea culturally safe and respectful experience for Nuxalk Nation members while providing COVID-19 vaccine to vulnerable elders in their remote community."

She also said she sincerely apologizes to Chief Wally Webber, the Nuxalk Nation and its members.

B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix and Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said theyfailed the Nuxalk.

"We sincerely apologize to the people of the Nuxalk Nation," a statement read.

"We can and must do better ... and [we] recognize the need for prioritized access to the COVID-19 vaccine to ensure cultural continuity and to counter the impacts of long-standing racism and discrimination."

Both haveasked Dr. Danile Behn Smith, deputyprovincial health officer,toensure"aculturally safe, respectful andpartnership-basedvaccinedistributionprocess is established with the [Nuxalk]Nation going forward."