The Yukon Party continued to needle the territorial government over health care issues last week.

Brad Cathers raised questions about standard vaccine issues during question period last Thursday.

“While we applaud the efforts of health professionals and officials in rolling out the COVID-19 vaccination campaign for adults, and more recent efforts in providing vaccinations for children aged five and up, we do have concerns about the impact that this has had on the delivery of other vaccinations,” Cathers told the house.

“For instance, we know that during the Omicron outbreak, there was a gap in delivery of infant-series vaccines that are offered to two-, four-, and six- month-old children.

“These immunizations include things like diphtheria, tetanus, and polio. This means that children who were scheduled for vaccination had their appointments bumped.

“Can the minister confirm whether all of those children who were bumped have been rescheduled and what steps or additional resources the minister is providing to ensure that the infant immunization schedule gets back on track?”

Health and Social Services Minister Tracy-Anne McPhee answered him. The COVID-19 vaccine is the most effective way to slow the spread of this virus, she noted.

“We are following the advice and the guidance of the office of the chief medical officer of health on the prioritization of vaccines, including non- COVID-19 vaccines,” the minister said.

“The infant-series primary vaccinations are a very high priority, and we have been able, at the Whitehorse Health Centre when resources permit, to continue those vaccinations.

“There was some interruption of that service, but we continue to work with the chief medical officer of health, although there have been some delays with the delivery of publicly funded, non-COVID-19 vaccinations through the pandemic.”

McPhee added, “The community nursing branch has continued to deliver routine, publicly funded vaccines for children under five.

“By way of an example, in December 2021, which was one of the biggest pressure months for vaccines, our teams were delivering both adult boosters and first doses for children aged five to 11 at the Whitehorse Health Centre, and they maintained an average vaccination rate of 95 per cent for children aged three to 18 months.”

Cathers persisted in his questioning.

“We do appreciate that staff in public health were overwhelmed and focused on working hard to administer COVID vaccinations, but we think that the government — and the minister in particular — missed the opportunity to lean on non-government providers for help,” he said.

“In particular, we think that they could have better utilized pharmacists in private pharmacies to administer vaccines and boosters normally available through public health.

“Immunizations, such as tetanus and Pneumovax, could be made available through pharmacies, which would take pressure off the public health clinics that were and remain focused on COVID-19 vaccinations,” Cathers said.

“There are also a range of routine boosters that could be offered by pharmacies. Will the minister consider working with pharmacies to make sure that immunizations normally offered through public health are made available through pharmacies?”

McPhee said her department has worked with pharmacies to implement the delivery of publicly funded vaccines for persons over the age of five, including the Shingrix and the HPV vaccines.

“I look forward to continuing to provide that information to Yukoners. If I am not conveying this in some way, I certainly wish to convey not only the importance of vaccines generally — we have spoken about this endlessly during COVID-19 — but the primary opportunity for Health and Social Services to respond to the needs of our Yukon families — absolutely.

“We appreciate our relationship with Yukon pharmacies.”