Native American tribes in Oklahoma offer the Covid-19 vaccine to anyone who wants it

Native American tribes in Oklahoma offer the Covid-19 vaccine to anyone who wants it

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Other tribes with their headquarters in Oklahoma also expanded the vaccinations outside of tribal citizens. The Osage, Choctaw and Citizen Potawatomi nations offer vaccines to all members of the public, while the Cherokee nation has opened appointments for anyone living within its 14-country jurisdiction.
The state of Oklahoma is currently in Phase 3 of its vaccine distribution plan.
These criteria cover a wide range of people, including healthcare workers, first responders, residents aged 65 and over, people with medical conditions, teachers and school staff, students aged 16 and older, people in congregations, public health staff, government officials and emergency workers. However, all residents will only be eligible under phase 4 of the state plan.

Strains want to achieve herd immunity

Tribal countries in Oklahoma have received raffle tickets from the Indian health service. As the tribes showed that they could quickly get shots in the arms, they received increasing doses, enabling them to expand their efforts beyond their own population.

Dr. John Krueger, chief medical officer of the Chickasaw Nation, acknowledges the strain’s robust infrastructure for the ability to offer vaccines to non-native members of the community.

The Chickasaw Nation recently opened a new facility in the city of Ada with 16 through-lines, dramatically increasing capacity. The tribe also has three other vaccination sites, as well as a team traveling to people’s homes, Krueger added.

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Now that those in the Chickasaw nation’s priority groups are offered vaccines, they are able to pass on to those outside the tribe.

“We are part of these communities, and they are a part of us,” Krueger said. “The sooner we can all get back to essential protection, the better it’s for us and the better it’s for everyone.”

According to Krueger, the Chickasaw Nation has administered more than 30,000 vaccines to date. About 35,000 Chickasaw citizens live within the tribe’s jurisdiction in southern Oklahoma.

The Choctaw Nation also attributes their newfound ability to the success they experienced in vaccinating early priority groups such as elders.

It is not necessarily a matter of question that is better than the question, says Cpt. Clinton Bullock, director of pharmacy for the Choctaw Nation Health Center. Rather, the tribe utilizes the resources provided by the Indian Health Service to protect the rest of the state.

“There are, of course, non-native members of the community that our fellow citizens come in contact with,” Bullock said. “Helping develop this herd immunity benefits not only the tribe members, but also the community as a whole.”

According to Bullock, the Choctaw Nation administered more than 20,000 vaccines.

Some tribes have reduced demand

Part of the reason why some tribal countries are able to open vaccines to anyone who wants them is because of reluctance to vaccine.

Dr Ronald Shaw, CEO of the Osage Nation WahZhaZhe Health Center, said the tribe’s health system initially followed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines in the distribution of vaccines. After about a month, the criteria became somewhat of an obstacle, and it quickly vaccinated for more age groups. Eventually, they offered shots to all non-natives.

The number of people hesitating to drop the Covid-19 vaccine rapidly

Despite the broad invitation, Shaw said, demand remained low, adding that people in rural parts of Osage County seemed reluctant to get the vaccines.

“The reluctance has meant we have more vaccines than giving the Native American patients in our area, so that translates into more vaccines for non-Indians,” Shaw said.

Krueger said that when the Chickasaw nation opened vaccinations for a particular group, there was initially an increase in demand, followed by an eventual decline.

The tribe continues to fight vaccine hesitation within the early priority groups, Krueger said. But in the meantime, they have the means to vaccinate others around them – and they realize that it will help protect the whole community.

“We currently have enough capacity to care not only for the community, but also for those (who are in the tribe’s priority groups) so that anyone who needs a vaccine can get it,” he said.

Tribes often overtook the states in distribution

Many tribal health providers have overtaken the rest of the country in the spread of the vaccine – a bright spot in a pandemic that has affected indigenous people excessively affected by the virus.

Indigenous people get their health care through a patchwork system of Indian health service facilities, tribal-run clinics and urban Indian health centers, and the vaccination effort has varied from tribe to tribe and state to state.

But as states and provinces struggled with disorganized rollout, glitchy reporting forms, and long queues, many tribal lands and clinics were able to quickly vaccinate their populations.

The option to receive grants from the Indian Health Service or from their state has given tribal health clinics more independence in distribution, and the autonomy to determine which groups should be preferred has helped protect tribes the most vulnerable members of their population. Existing robust health systems have helped to reach strains more effectively, while tailored messages could build confidence in the vaccine.

As of March 15, more than 1.2 million doses of the vaccine have been distributed by the Indian Health Service and more than 760,000 have been administered.

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