Yellowknife — Riley Oldford usually plays sledge hockey and plays with friends, but he’s been mostly at home since the pandemic began.
A 16-year-old man with cerebral palsy and chronic lung disease was vaccinated in the Northwest Territories for the first person under the age of 18 when fired earlier this month.
The NWT prioritized residents with a chronic condition or high risk of COVID-19 in vaccine deployment, but Oldford was originally not eligible due to age.
On May 6, the region began offering the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine between the 12th and 17th, the day after Health Canada approved its use.
Yellowknife has relatively few cases of COVID-19 compared to other cities in Canada, but Oldford quit school to reduce his risk of getting infected.
For the past 14 months, 10th grade students have been studying at home.
“Now I’m almost used to it,” said Oldford.
Janice Bushfield, president of the Canadian Network for Cerebral Paralysis, said other people with disabilities had similar experiences to Oldford.
“Isolation has always been a problem for people with disabilities, and the pandemic has expanded it,” Bushfield said.
Bushfield, who lives in Alberta, said the state’s second vaccination deployment prioritized people with disabilities and their caregivers. My son with cerebral palsy was recently vaccinated.
David Kron, secretary general of the Manitoba Cerebral Palsy Association, said the state did not initially prioritize people with disabilities.
“The deployment seems to be based solely on age,” he said.
The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine prioritized people with underlying illnesses such as asthma, cerebral palsy, Down’s disease, and heart disease, but not until late March, Kron said.
He added that Manitoba people with cerebral palsy feel more and more isolated throughout the pandemic.
“People are fed up with this. They are just trying to get over it every day.”
Reporters, photographers and health officials have seen Oldford vaccinated. He said they made the teens more nervous than the jab itself.
“It was a lot more people than I was with last year. I like people, but I’m not used to them anymore.”
Oldford said he began playing flight simulation games during the pandemic, effectively allowing him to travel. He said he was looking forward to the day when he could travel again to meet his family and friends.
“I have a computer and a joystick and fly a little around Canada. That’s passing the time I guess,” he said with a laugh.
Oldford took the first dose, but should keep the distance isolated until he gets the second shot.
He said all his friends were planning to get vaccinated, but a recent outbreak at one of Yellowknife’s schools resulted in 64 cases and more than 1,000 contacts in the city. Later, some are still isolated.
Riley’s mother, Sharon Oldford, said she was hopeful to see her son vaccinated.
“It was exactly this feeling of hope that life began to return to normal and I was able to return to school. He was able to meet his friends,” she said.
She and her husband were cautious throughout the pandemic. They went beyond public health guidelines to protect Riley, she said, disinfect everything brought into the house and change their clothes when they return home.
“I’m absolutely looking forward to when we can breathe a little easier, and that’s not what you think every day, all day,” she said.
As Yellowknife continues to address active cases of COVID-19, Oldford wants people to return the city’s case count to zero in accordance with public health orders.
“Do you want to quarantine for two weeks? I did it for a year. You can do it for two weeks.”
This report by Canadian Press was first published on May 16, 2021.
— Emma Tranter, Iqaluit, Nunavut
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This story was funded by Facebook and the Canadian Press News Fellowship.
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