N.W.T. correctional centre inmates receive COVID-19 vaccine this week

Inmates at the North Slave Correctional Complex in Yellowknife and the Fort Smith Correctional Complex wanting the COVID-19 vaccine were able to receive it Wednesday.

Inmates at the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre in Hay River are scheduled to receive their shots Friday.

The jail clinics are part of specific vaccine clinics being offered to vulnerable populations in the territory, a spokesperson for the N.W.T. Health Authority told CBC.

Teams held vaccine clinics at homeless and day shelters in Yellowknife, Inuvik and Hay River over the weekend and early this week.

The Department of Health says people experiencing homelessness in other N.W.T. communities will have access to the public clinics which have been taking place this month.

The territory received its first shipment of 7,200 doses of the Moderna vaccine on Dec. 28. On Dec. 31, the N.W.T. immunized 130 residents and staff at two long-term care facilities, one in Yellowknife and one in Behchok.

According to the territorial government's COVID-19 information website, 1,893 dose of the vaccine have been given in the N.W.T. so far.

When the territory gets its final shipment in mid-March, it expects it will have received 51,000 doses, enough to immunize 75 per cent of the adult population.