Native American tribes begin to see progress in COVID-19 fight
Last summer, the Navajo Nation had the highest per capita COVID-19 infection rate in the country.
The nation’s largest Native American reservation reported 2,304 cases per 100,000 people in mid-May, compared to the U.S. average in mid-May of 8 per 100,000.
On Nov. 21, Navajo Nation daily cases peaked at 401 — over 1.5 times the number of cases on the worst day of May.
But on March 22, the reservation had good news. There were no deaths or even new cases to report.
Tribal communities have been quick to vaccinate their populations. That, along with other evidence-backed strategies, were key factors in changing the trajectory for a group that has suffered disproportionately from the coronavirus.
“Navajo Nation tribal leadership took this disease seriously from the beginning. They know their history and the devastating toll that infectious diseases have had,” said Laura Hammitt, a Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health associate professor and the director of the infectious disease prevention program at the Center for American Indian Health. “All of these mitigation measures helped slow the spread of the virus and the efficient rollout of vaccines has accelerated the decline in disease.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted harsh health disparities experienced by American Indian and Alaska Native populations. This group has the highest death and hospitalization rates from the virus, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows.
Structural issues the Indian Health Service has faced over the years and limited access to resources exacerbated the disparities.
Major progress came through the distribution of vaccines.
“It was critical that tribes with the supporting health care organizations were recognized as unique jurisdictions for vaccine distribution,” said Valerie Nurr’araaluk Davidson, interim president of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium and an enrolled tribal member of the Orutsararmiut Native Council. “In Alaska, this meant that we received all of our monthly allocations at one time, not weekly, as was common throughout the rest of the United States.”
Loretta Christensen, IHS Navajo Area chief medical officer, said in late March that the tribe’s immediate goal was to get 80% of the adult population vaccinated. At the time, 50 percent of the eligible population had received both doses. She anticipated reaching the goal by April’s end.
Meanwhile, fewer than 29% of all U.S. adults were fully vaccinated as of April 13.
Abigail Echo-Hawk, Seattle Indian Health Board executive vice president and an enrolled member of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, testified in March that her organization created the first national survey on vaccine acceptance among American Indians and Alaska Natives.
“What we found is that 75% of Native people were willing and wanted to take the vaccine, and their main reason for doing that was they saw themselves as an individual who had a responsibility to our community. And that is a core public health practice,” she told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
That level of acceptance paid off. As of April 5, IHS reports that over 1 million doses have been administered.