{"id":15751,"date":"2021-09-08T09:25:19","date_gmt":"2021-09-08T13:25:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=15751"},"modified":"2021-09-08T09:25:19","modified_gmt":"2021-09-08T13:25:19","slug":"gaylord-news-covid-19-booster-shots-rolling-out-in-indian-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/09\/08\/gaylord-news-covid-19-booster-shots-rolling-out-in-indian-country\/","title":{"rendered":"Gaylord News: COVID-19 booster shots rolling out in Indian Country"},"content":{"rendered":" \"Chickasaw<\/a>
Patients get COVID-19 vaccine at the Chickasaw Nation Emergency Operations Facility in Ada, Oklahoma. The tribe planned to begin offering booster shots to immunocompromised patients in August. Photo by Michael Scott \/ Courtesy the Chickasaw Nation<\/figcaption>\r\n
Oklahoma tribes prepare to pivot to booster shots in COVID-19 battle<\/div>\r\n
Wednesday, September 8, 2021<\/div>\r\n
By Nancy Marie Spears<\/div>\r\n
Gaylord News<\/div>\r\n
gaylordnews.net<\/a><\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nWASHINGTON, D.C. — Formal guidance from the Indian Health Service on how and when to give COVID-19<\/a> vaccine booster shots still are in the works, but some tribes in Oklahoma aren’t waiting.

<\/p>\r\nArmed with the news that booster shot guidelines are on the horizon, tribal nations in Oklahoma are continuing their fight against COVID-19 in a state with a low vaccination rate as another surge pushes health care systems to their limits.

<\/p>\r\nChickasaw Nation Department of Health locations in Ada, Ardmore, Purcell and Tishomingo began administering booster shots on August 25 to those who are immunocompromised. The Choctaw, Cheyenne and Arapaho, Citizen Potawatomi, Absentee Shawnee and Wyandotte nations are likely to begin offering boosters shots later this month, following guidelines from federal health agencies.

<\/p>\r\nThey are just the latest steps by tribes in Oklahoma, which have managed to keep a step ahead of some of their neighbors in the fight against COVID-19.

<\/p>\r\n“The local Native community is probably vaccinated at a higher rate than their non-Native neighbors, just because we, Indian health care in general, have made it extraordinarily easy for them to get vaccinated,” said John Bearden, clinic compliance officer at the Wyandotte Nation\u2019s Bearskin Health and Wellness Center. “No portal to have to sign in to make an appointment somewhere. We’ve been available as a walk-in vaccination clinic since very early on, and continue to do so.”

<\/p>\r\n

Check out the latest #Coronavirus<\/a> data from the @IHSgov<\/a> below to see the #COVID19<\/a> positivity rates across Indian Country.https:\/\/t.co\/ByWU848cxe<\/a><\/p>— indianz.com (@indianz) September 7, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote>