Ottawa invests $672,000 in vaccine outreach in Nova Scotia, Atlantic Canada

Halifax MP Andy Fillmore announced the money would be invested into three outreach programs

CITYnews halifax \ Canadian Press

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HALIFAX — Ottawa is investing $672,000 into Nova Scotian organizations to boost COVID-19 vaccine uptake in undervaccinated communities throughout the province and the Atlantic region.

Liberal MP for Halifax Andy Fillmore announced today the money would be invested into three outreach programs through the federal Immunization Partnership Fund to tackle vaccine hesitancy and misinformation.

Fillmore says the goal of the fund is to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.

Maria Cain, a manager at Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia, says $226,000 will be used to target newcomers to Canada by creating culturally relevant tools to address concerns about the vaccine in the immigrant community.

In the Halifax area, Mainline, a program of the Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre, will use its allocated $123,000 to focus on drug users and Indigenous people who live in cities.

As well, the Discovery Centre’s science director Ryan Jameson says the museum plans to use its awarded $323,000 to approach leaders in the Black, Indigenous and LGBTQ communities to create educational resources for the province and the larger Atlantic region.

“The hope for the fund is that the science … is shared equitably among us all,” Fillmore told a virtual news conference today. “Doing all that requires us to consider why one person’s lived experience might present different barriers than another individual’s when it comes to accessing vaccines.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 14, 2022.

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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

The Canadian Press