Thank you, Madam Chair.
As Dr. Butler-Jones has said, we're still seeing widespread influenza activity across Canada. And the experience among first nations, as we know it, is a reflection of that. This means that we will see some severe illness, hospitalizations, and deaths in first nations and among other aboriginal people. We will continue to monitor activity in the community nursing stations to watch for issues on which we have to provide extra advice.
On immunization, we're finding that the rollout of H1N1 vaccine on reserves has been well planned, well managed, and well received by the communities. During the first three weeks of immunization, approximately 93% of first nations communities held immunization clinics. In fact, probably all those communities that have a significant number of individuals have been covered. There are some very small communities and also some communities that are seasonal. It's important to note, though, that 100% of remote and isolated first nations communities have in fact launched immunization.
Over 162,000 doses of H1N1 vaccine have been administered on-reserve. To this point, approximately 40% of on-reserve first nations populations have been immunized. However, that does not take into account the fact that we do not have the most up-to-date information from two large provinces. Therefore, that is an underestimate. For those regions for which we have up-to-date information and are confident about it, the coverage rate ranges from 55% to 85%.
There have been some challenges, as one might expect. As per other communities across the country, there has been some slowing down of the vaccine rollout. But as Dr. Butler-Jones said, that will continue to be dealt with. Health Canada is helping the affected communities readjust their plans accordingly by rescheduling clinics, adjusting volunteer schedules, and in fact, in some cases, reallocating supplies of vaccine among communities.
Health Canada continues to monitor the vaccine rollout, and the regional offices are monitoring any communities where there are significant challenges with clinics. We expect that the immunization of first nations on reserve will be completed at the same time as, if not before, the rest of Canada.
I'd like to update you now on the virtual summit, which was held November 10. It was shown live over the Internet and was co-hosted by the Minister of Health and the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations. This was a live webcast provided to first nations and other partners across the country. It provided a comprehensive overview of first nations pandemic preparedness and response.
There was a panel that led the discussion that included Dr. Kim Barker, from the Assembly of First Nations; Dr. David Butler-Jones; Gina Wilson, who is the senior assistant deputy minister for INAC; and me. Initial feedback indicates that it was a success and certainly achieved the goal of delivering important information on H1N1 to first nations communities.
There were over 1,000 unique log-ins during the roughly two-hour webcast, but it is difficult to estimate the total number of individuals it reached, as quite likely there were a number of individuals at each site. The recording of the webcast will be up on the AFN website until the end of December for anyone who wishes to consult it.
The virtual summit fulfills a key commitment under the joint communications protocol of the AFN, INAC, and Health Canada and was an excellent example of collaboration among the parties. In particular, the use of modern communication tools ensured that the summit was relevant to first nations youth. Members of the AFN National Youth Council were involved in the summit through pre-recorded video segments. They expressed their thoughts and concerns and posed youth-focused questions that were put to and responded to by the expert panel.
Thank you very much.