Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Premier. As to my statement, I will be looking at the Yukon-NWT border. Has the Premier had conversations with the Yukon Premier about a bubble with the NWT, since he has the power to open the border on the Yukon side? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I have had discussions with Premier Silver from the Yukon government around exemptions for residents to cross over the borders. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I'll wait to say if that's good news or not. With the high uptake of Moderna vaccine that we've been hearing of, and I know that the communities in my region have really been posting a lot that they've been getting high percentages of first and second doses. Recently, with all over 18 in Inuvik being able to receive the COVID vaccine, that covers the Beaufort-Delta, anyone over 18. Will there be a Yukon-NWT bubble anytime soon after those discussions?
I have had discussions with Premier Silver from the Yukon Territory. He is more than interested in having exemptions for residents to go across the border. We are, as well, interested in that. However, I have to put it out there: Premier Silver has let me know that, if he was to consider having an exemption, not a bubble, but an exemption, then he would not be okay with us closing the border when they open up to British Columbia; and in conversations, it will only be a couple of weeks, he's assuming, before they open up to British Columbia. At this time, that is the underlying factor that is not good news for us.
That's not good news, but my next question will be: will the Premier have discussions with the Minister of health and the CPHO, or has had discussions with them, on what the NWT plans on doing, especially knowing that we have higher rates of vaccine?
Absolutely, we have been having discussions with our CPHO around what will happen when the majority of residents in the NWT get vaccinated; 75 percent is herd immunity. However, there is still a population, there are still people who have not, will not, or cannot get immunized, and we have a whole population of children who we don't have a vaccine for. The major factor is actually that they're not projecting that the vaccines will be delivered in the South until late fall, September, so we have serious concerns. There is not enough research. My understanding is that, even if we have the vaccines ourselves, can we still transmit COVID-19 to other people? Those are questions we don't know. I know that our CPHO is well-aware of the mental health, and I know that she is tired of it just as much as all of us. Her job is to make sure that we keep as safe as possible, and she is trying to do that.
Thank you, Honourable Premier. Final supplementary. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The next question I am going to ask is: how long are we going to be in this public health emergency? I refer back again to the Emerging Wisely plan. I think the people of the Northwest Territories, the people of the Beaufort-Delta, have a voice, too, just like the people at the mines do when they are given exception after exception. How long will we be in this public health emergency, and do residents who have been vaccinated have the option to challenge this public health emergency if they choose to, especially after they have been vaccinated? Thank you.
I would like to defer that question to the Minister of Health and Social Services. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Premier. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the question. The CPHO conducts regular risk assessments of the context of COVID-19, and it is her view that a public health emergency still exists. As a result, her public health orders remain in place, and as a result, the self-quarantine for 14 days remains in place until a time when she doesn't think that that risk any longer exists.
In order to change those orders, as the Premier said, she has to do a scan of, for example, vaccine levels. While the NWT is now over 40 percent vaccinated, the number for the whole of Canada is 1.42 percent. There's not anything like equality of vaccination across the country. Secondly, there is still community transmission of COVID-19 in some southern jurisdictions. That's something that we have worked very hard to prevent from happening here.
The third part is that, while we know the vaccine reduces how sick people become with COVID-19, we don't have definitive answers about whether it also stops transmission, so that whether, as a vaccinated person, I can still carry the virus with me and pass that on. We are very interested in making the changes that the Member is talking about. We understand that people are fed up with the isolation, and they would like to be reunited with their friends and family, their former lives, and we look forward to a time when we can truly get this behind us, but that moment is not now. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
