Recent stories from NPR and The New Yorker highlight the success many tribal nations have achieved in getting vaccines to people, including both tribal members and non-tribal members. The foundation of this success rests on tribal nations choosing to distribute the vaccine through the federally run Indian Health Services (IHS) rather than state programs. IHS is managed by the federal government as part of the trust relationship between sovereign tribal nations and the United States.
The Cherokee Nation has already vaccinated 10% of its population, with a focus on elders and tribal members who speak Cherokee fluently. Likewise, more than 100,000 members of the Navajo Nation have received at least the first dose of the two-part vaccine. The Rosebud Tribe, located within the borders of South Dakota, are vaccinating at twice the rate of the state, with non-tribal members in distant cities seeking out rural tribal nations in an attempt to get a shot. Where states often have limited vaccine quantities and lack of organized management across counties, tribal nations consistently have sufficient vaccines through IHS.
Tribal nations and communities in rural Alaska similarly demonstrate success in their vaccination efforts, and are setting their own standards in prioritization by some choosing to focus on teachers and educators, and others working to get indigenous language speakers vaccinated first. Alaska overall is seeing high vaccination rates, currently at 21.8% statewide, but the greatest success is from tribal nations in rural areas. The ease in coordinating the smaller community numbers is a contributing factor, and communities are using planes, snowmobiles, and ferries to reach people.
A key to tribal nations’ success is the utilization of a variety of methods to inform individuals about vaccinations, relying primarily on phone calls.
Across Indian Country, tribal leaders say they’ve set up call centers—often staffed by fluent Native language speakers—to answer inquiries, book appointments and reach out to citizens. They’ve also gotten the word out through existing outreach programs, newsletters, social media, radio announcements and direct mail.Tribal nations and Native communities are battling the current pandemic within the context of a genocidal use of epidemics during the colonization of America. Although historians used to contribute the effects of epidemics on indigenous peoples to the mere historical accident of new diseases arriving, the truth is that many epidemics were “a direct and foreseeable consequence of decisions made by the United States and its citizens to dispossess Native people of desirable lands and shove them someplace else.”
Even now, COVID-19 ravaged tribal nations throughout 2020, with Native Americans dying at a rate twice that of white Americans, discussed in blog posts here and here. This racial disparity in death rates and hospitalizations is also evidenced among Black Americans and Latinx Americans.
Underlying health inequities that are skewing outcomes during the current pandemic can largely be attributed to systemic inequalities in income, housing, and employment. Studies show that people of color are more likely to be essential workers thus unable to work from home, reside in high population density areas, and lack accessible healthcare, COVID-19 testing, clean water, and grocery stores. Further, people of color were also found to receive less medical treatment and testing when seeking care for COVID-19 symptoms. For indigenous people in rural communities, far distances to medical facilities and “high rates of diabetes, heart disease and other preexisting conditions made tribes... even more vulnerable during the pandemic.”
Tribal nations are working diligently to combat the disproportionate effects of COVID-19 felt in their communities, and they are succeeding in some sectors. The efforts of tribal nations bring some much needed positive news and offer a hopeful outlook for vaccinations moving forward.
3 comments:
Really well researched article! It's inspiring to see a community of people ban together to face a crises like this.
I was particularly intrigued by the article you linked that questioned whether the mass epidemics Native Americans experienced were an accident of colonial exploration, or rather only occurred due to colonial mistreatment reducing the efficacy of their immune systems. I don't know if I accept this argument, as I thought the viruses brought to the Americas did most of their damage before the forced marches began. But these atrocities and displacements could have certainly caused weaker immune systems.
Thanks, Melissa, for sharing your research on tribal nations’ rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine! Your article really illustrated to me the role of spatiality (which admittedly, I’m still trying to fully wrap my head around!). On one hand, it seems like spatiality negatively impacts tribal nations for several reasons, including distance from health services. However, in the pro column, I’m wondering if spatiality creates stronger communications systems or contributed to better/stronger social structures that have helped facilitate vaccination? I was really impressed with the many creative ways tribal leaders have communicated with citizens about vaccination. Does spatiality play a role at all, or was all of this achieved in spite of spatial obstacles? Is spatiality something that Indian Health Services considers?
Melissa, I was so happy to read about the success of vaccine distribution for tribal nations. I think it was a good decision to run the distribution system through IHS instead of through state programs. In particular, I appreciate that tribal communities can set their own standards for prioritizing who receives the vaccine. Additionally, I think rural communities can learn from tribal communities’ distribution methods. In particular, rural counties could set up similar call centers to inform at-risk individuals, and elderly residents in particular, about the vaccinations and help them book appointments. Thank you for a great post!
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