Story at a glance
- Indigenous Americans have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic and are dying from COVID-19 at higher rates than most other populations.
- The Indian Health Service has been successful in quickly distributing vaccines to the most vulnerable and is now moving onto the general public.
- Tribes are moving fast to protect their elders, many of whom hold valuable cultural and linguistic knowledge.
At one point in the coronavirus pandemic, the Navajo Nation had the highest coronavirus infection rate per capita in the country, an outbreak so bad that Doctors Without Borders sent two teams to the region. Now, more than half of their population has been fully vaccinated and clinics are offering doses to visitors.
The Indian Health Service has distributed more than 1.4 million total vaccine doses and administered more than 947,000, reaching enough of the most vulnerable tribal members to offer vaccines to the general population. Now, the IHS is reportedly redirecting efforts towards individual hospitals and clinics with high demand for shots.
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“As we have been successful in vaccinating the high risk groups, there are a lot of local sites that have been able to expand access to vaccination to include those with close social and economic ties with our tribal communities,” Matthew Clark, a safety and monitoring specialist with the agency’s vaccine task force, told reporters, according to The Associated Press. “This is an important part of our effort to achieve community immunity.”
Native Americans have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic, especially on reservations, where access to basic resources, including food and water, can be limited and much of the economy is reliant on tourism. Despite historically rooted mistrust in the medical community, many Indigenous communities responded to the pandemic by going into strict lockdowns and maintaining social distancing measures. And while the vaccine rollout faltered in other parts of the country, tribes were quick to get their elders vaccinated, protecting valuable cultural and linguistic knowledge among a vulnerable population.
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