KITCHENER -- As the Region of Waterloo began vaccinating children on Friday, Indigenous children were welcomed to Anishnabeg Outreach in Kitchener to be vaccinated in a culturally appropriate and welcoming setting.
Hundreds of kids rolled up their sleeves in the area for their first dose, including Matthew Waterfall.
"It didn't feel like anything," he said. "But I'm glad I got it."
Waterfall was one of dozens of kids who got their first shot at Anishnabeg.
"This is for Indigenous children and adults, but also if it’s an Indigenous adult and they have non-Indigenous children living in the house, absolutely for them too," said Anishnabeg CEO Stephen Jackson.
The centre has become a vaccination clinic for First Nation, Métis and Inuit people by creating a culturally appropriate setting, but once Health Canada approved the pediatric Pfizer vaccine, the centre revamped the space to make it more kid friendly.
"We got all the stress toys, so the squishy things," said Jackson. "We got the fidget toys for fidgeters and all the sensory toys, really as distractors to help build that part of the experience."
After getting inoculated, children can write letters to Santa, colour, paint their hand to canvas, and have story time by the fire to help them relax.
"Having two kids, one that’s okay with the vaccines and another one that’s a little more nervous, I think having something they can look forward to, writing letters to Santa is always a bonus of course," said parent Celina Weber.
Jackson says a canvas of kids hand paintings will go up in the centre as an art piece.
"These are some of the first children being vaccinated in the region, and they're Indigenous," he said. "That speaks volumes to importance the region's putting on supporting Indigenous people."
Anishnabeg says roughly 25 children got vaccinated Friday and appointments are ramping up over the next few months.
