Native American tribes receive COVID-19 vaccines, and health officials work to ease fears about taking it

Native American tribes receive COVID-19 vaccines, and health officials work to ease fears about taking it As of Wednesday, 290,900 Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines had been distributed by the Indian Health Service among its 12 geographic areas. Nada Hassanein, Nora Mabie, Shondiin Silversmith and Nora G. Hertel USA TODAY

When the COVID-19 vaccines arrived at the Bay Area Indian Health Center in California's Santa Clara Valley, Miriam Mosqueda of the Chichimeca Guamare tribe almost didn’t take one. She was afraid. 

But the 26-year-old staffer thought of her immunocompromised grandparents, whom she hadn't seen since March.   ...

The center is one of 340 tribal health programs or urban Indian organizations nationwide to receive vaccine allocations from the federal Indian Health Service. Tribal nations had the choice to receive vaccines from the IHS or their states.

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The IHS has distributed 290,900 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines among its 12 geographic areas, and more than 74,000 first doses have been administered, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention​. Tribal health care workers and Native residents of long-term care facilities began receiving vaccinations last month as part of Phase 1 of the nation's coronavirus vaccine rollout.

Health centers are the nexus of making sure Indian communities get vaccinated, and respected elders and tribal leaders within the groups leverage their influence to help get the message out.

People of color, including indigenous people, are more likely to rely on trusted voices within their own communities for information about the pandemic and the vaccine, a study by Northeastern University that tracked online behaviors suggests. 

“It’s helped tremendously in Indian Country for people to have a transparent perspective,” said Virginia Hedrick, executive director of the California Consortium for Urban Indian Health. The group streams Facebook Live question-and-answer sessions every other week. ...