A new report is giving the Yukon a failing grade on its success with vaccines of all types for older adults, prompting a seniors’ group to express disappointment.

The report was commissioned by the CanAge organization, which describes itself as “Canada’s National Seniors’ Advocacy Organization”.

The territory was one of three jurisdictions across Canada that received an “F” on the report card. The Northwest Territories and Nunavut were the others.

Laura Tamblyn Watts, the chief executive officer of CanAge, stated in the report “vaccinations are a core pillar of any preventive health strategy, drastically relieving the burden on our overburdened acute health care system at astonishing cost savings to all levels of government.

“Older adults unnecessarily suffer serious health impacts from vaccine preventable diseases such as influenza, pneumonia and shingles.

“For many seniors, getting the vaccinations they need is quite literally a matter of life and death,” Tamblyn Watts said.

“This leads to a stark question: why are only three per cent of older Canadians currently protected against vaccine preventable disease?”

Tamblyn Watts added, “We have done a great job of promoting the importance of vaccinations in children, with older people left to the wayside.

“However, history also highlights with painful clarity the consequences of not prioritizing prevention when it comes to the health of our rapidly aging population.

“According to the most recent available data, 66 per cent of influenza-related deaths are seniors — a number none of us should accept.

She said CanAge produced this report, which she called the first of its kind in Canada to provide data for government officials to make better decisions when it comes to providing resources for vaccinations.

“In this time of health care crisis brought on by COVID-19, we have a unique opportunity to rethink vaccine approvals, prioritization, budgeting and rollout,” Tamblyn Watts added.

“On behalf of Canada’s more than 6.8 million seniors, we implore you: please take this opportunity to fix this unnecessarily broken system. We know how to make it better.”

The Seniors Action Yukon organization said it’s “disappointing that the Yukon has so much room for improvement, even compared to the other territories which face many of the same challenges. 

“This report does not address the COVID vaccine, nor does it address other regular tests such as colon screening which the Yukon may be doing quite well.

“In any event, we have expressed our disappointment about the choice the government made regarding the Shingrix vaccine as it does not seem to be backed up by the latest evidence, nor does it address the most vulnerable.

“The government also has a way to go to improve communications with seniors,” Seniors Action Yukon pointed out.

“CanAge noted the obvious and ongoing problems with navigating the website; imagine the difficulties obtaining information if you are not familiar with government or the internet.”

“This new report card highlights a number of areas where the Yukon needs to improve the way it both delivers and shares information with respect to vaccine delivery,” said the Yukon Party’s Patti McLeod, the official Opposition health critic.

“The government needs to take this report seriously and start addressing these issues immediately to improve our vaccination strategy for seniors.

“One way to do this would be to listen to Health Canada’s recommendations and cover the shingles vaccines for all Yukoners aged 50 and older.”

The conclusions of the report stated the Yukon is a “good news, bad news story.

“The good news is that it is one of only two jurisdictions to have recently publicly funded the shingles vaccines for seniors 65-70 (see Ontario).

“The Yukon is also the first territory to empower its pharmacists to administer flu vaccines.

“The bad news? The absence of coverage for specifically-formulated influenza vaccines for seniors, even extends to those in long-term care, which is strange given the federal government’s financial support for this vaccine program this year. Increased efforts to educate and inform seniors about its vaccine programs are sorrowfully lacking.

“Vaccination information is strongly skewed toward children. Seniors are missing.

“It is unclear which vaccines are publicly funded for seniors.

“While the site does provide good information about the vaccines themselves, how and where to get the vaccines is confusing or unclear, and is not called out well for adults, let alone seniors.”

The Seniors Action Yukon organization said it’s “disappointing that the Yukon has so much room for improvement, even compared to the other territories which face many of the same challenges.