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Historically, infectious diseases have disproportionately affected minority groups, such as Indigenous populations. In this study, Nathan C Nickel, Wanda Phillips-Beck and colleagues use population-wide healthcare data to assess whether the prioritization of COVID-19 vaccination for Indigenous populations in Manitoba, Canada was associated with improved access to and uptake of COVID-19 testing and vaccination compared to all other Manitobans. They report that these efforts led to faster vaccine access and uptake by First Nations peoples, likely resulting in reduced severe illness and deaths. Overall, the authors highlight that “informative, inclusive, and participatory decision-making and policy creation are key to protecting health and preventing the spread of communicable illnesses among Indigenous populations”.
Image Credit: Maksim Goncharenok, Pexels