{"id":19095,"date":"2021-12-14T11:23:55","date_gmt":"2021-12-14T16:23:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=19095"},"modified":"2021-12-14T11:36:00","modified_gmt":"2021-12-14T16:36:00","slug":"cronkite-news-navajo-nation-continues-fight-against-covid-19-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/12\/14\/cronkite-news-navajo-nation-continues-fight-against-covid-19-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Cronkite News: Navajo Nation continues fight against COVID-19 pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Cronkite News Video: Tuba City Mobile Clinic on Navajo Nation<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n
Hope and resilience in action: Navajo Nation continues battle against COVID<\/div>\r\n
Tuesday, December 14, 2021<\/div>\r\n
By Chad Bradley<\/div>\r\n
Cronkite News<\/DIV>\r\n
cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nTUBA CITY — It\u2019s a familiar sight to anyone who knows the Navajo Nation: red sandstone, yellow-tinged sagebrush, a blue sky canopy that meets a protective ring of mountain peaks, with sheep and cattle dotting the fields.

<\/p>\r\nA newer addition to the timeless landscape is a series of hand-lettered turquoise signs along southbound U.S. 89 near Tuba City. \u201cNative people are resilient, resourceful, kind, and most of all hopeful,\u201d one says.

<\/p>\r\nThe messaging reflects how far the Navajo Nation has come in battling and recovering from COVID-19<\/a>, and how it remains vigilant against a disease that has has taken the lives of 1,557 people on the Navajo Nation.

<\/p>\r\nIn mid-2020, the Navajo Nation had the highest per-capita infection rate of COVID-19 in the U.S. Although the infection rate remains high, tribal leaders continue to practice mitigation efforts while many parts of the U.S. have relaxed restrictions.

<\/p>\r\n \"COVID-19<\/a>

A newer addition to the timeless landscape of the Navajo Nation is a series of turquoise signs along southbound U.S. 89 near Tuba City. Photo by Sierra Alvarez \/ Cronkite News <\/figcaption>\r\n

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Reflecting on the pandemic<\/div>\r\nResidents of Tuba City, nearly 80 miles north of Flagstaff and one of the largest towns on the Navajo Nation, reflected on the past 21 months of dealing with the pandemic and experiencing loss and hardship while gaining a greater understanding of what \u201ccommunity\u201d means.

<\/p>\r\n\u201cIt was a big scare at that time,\u201d Valentina Nez of Tonalea said as she waited in her car to receive a booster shot at the Tuba City Regional Health Care mobile medical unit<\/a>. \u201cYou don\u2019t know who has COVID, and you want to protect yourself, so you think about your family as well as your co-workers.\u201d

<\/p>\r\nNez, who has received two doses of the Moderna vaccine, was afraid of coming into contact with people who may have been infected, some of whom seemed to have little concern for their safety.

<\/p>\r\n\u201cIt was definitely heartbreaking, knowing that there were a lot of people losing their lives to this virus, something we don\u2019t know anything about,\u201d she said, describing the effects it had to her social life and noting that she had removed herself from social media because it was damaging her mental health.

<\/p>\r\n \"COVID-19<\/a>

Shaydreanna Jackson waits to receive a booster shot at the Tuba City Regional Health Care mobile medical unit. Her son, Koah, was getting the Pfizer vaccine for ages 5 to 11. Photo by Sierra Alvarez \/ Cronkite News <\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nShaydreanna Jackson said her brother died in July, although not from COVID-19. But the pandemic still affected her family.

<\/p>\r\n\u201cNot being able to have everyone \u2013 his close family friends and relatives \u2013 there was hard,\u201d she said. \u201cNot being able to see everyone and for them to not be there for my sisters and I was hard.\u201d

<\/p>\r\nJackson was waiting to receive a booster shot and was accompanied by her son, Koah, who received the Pfizer vaccine for ages 5 to 11. He said it wasn\u2019t so bad, even though he\u2019s normally afraid of needles.

<\/p>\r\nAlthough Jackson lives in Tuba City, she is Hualapai, who, along with the Havasupai people, live in and near the Grand Canyon, about 50 miles northeast of Kingman.

<\/p>\r\n\u201cWe\u2019re already small as is, and we\u2019ve had a lot of cases out there and it\u2019s taken quite a bit of our elders,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cThat\u2019s scary because our language already isn\u2019t spoken.\u201d

<\/p>\r\nThe Hualapai Tribe has had 206 positive cases overall, with a population of 1,621, according to data from the tribe\u2019s COVID-19 tracker<\/a>.

<\/p>\r\n \"COVID-19<\/a>

\u201cIt was a big scare at that time,\u201d Valentina Nez of Tonalea says, referring to the early days of the pandemic. She received a booster shot at the Tuba City Regional Health Care mobile medical unit. Photo by Sierra Alvarez \/ Cronkite News <\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nTo date, Arizona has reported 1.3 million cases of COVID-19, with more than 40,000 on the Navajo Nation, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services<\/a> and the Navajo Department of Health<\/a>.

<\/p>\r\nAn incident command structure tent at the Tuba City Fairgrounds on the eastern end of town was erected to act as a potential overflow triage area for Tuba City Regional Health Care Corp., according to Joe Baca, health care social worker and counselor for the hospital, but it\u2019s now used as a staging area for distribution of groceries and other necessities.

<\/p>\r\nBaca recalled the tent was an eyesore, with bright floodlights, imposing size and the steady churn of helicopters arriving and leaving. It initially stirred feelings of worry and fear among tribal members.

<\/p>\r\n\u201cI\u2019m thinking, \u2018It\u2019s only a matter of time before that (tent) is filled up with people; what do we do then?\u2019\u201d Baca said. \u201cA part of me was like, \u2018There\u2019s no end to this.\u2019\u201d

<\/p>\r\n \"COVID-19<\/a>

Joe Baca and his fiancee, Britney Laughter, flank Baca\u2019s son, Benicio, at their home in Tuba City. Although Laughter and Benicio could stay home during the pandemic, Joe was a frontline worker. Photo by Sierra Alvarez \/ Cronkite News<\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nWhat was initially an ominous sight became a hub for distributing supplies for those who were unable to leave their homes for groceries, water and firewood, which is used extensively on the remote reservation.

<\/p>\r\nBefore the vaccines became available, Baca was afraid he wouldn\u2019t survive an infection. He feared for his and his family\u2019s safety and well-being.

<\/p>\r\nHis fiance, Britney; sister-in-law, Michelle; and his sons, Benicio and DeAndre, were able to remain home and attend school remotely, but Baca \u2013 who was heavily involved in community outreach and supply distribution \u2013 kept working.

<\/p>\r\n\u201cEarly on in the distribution, it was so dire,\u201d he said. \u201cI was so afraid we were going to run into somebody in their home setting, their hogan or their housing structure, and they were going to be gone. That was my worst fear: \u2018Maybe nobody got to them, nobody helped them, they got sick or they didn\u2019t have wood or basic food.\u2019 I\u2019m glad to say we never ran into anything like that.\u201d

<\/p>\r\n \"COVID-19<\/a>

The Tuba City Regional Health Care mobile medical unit provides COVID-19 vaccines, flu shots, COVID-19 testing and more. Photo by Sierra Alvarez \/ Cronkite News <\/figcaption>\r\n

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Sovereignty in treatment<\/div>\r\nTuba City Regional Health Care\u2019s RV-size mobile medical clinic is parked on a small, vacant lot on the border of the Navajo Nation and the Hopi Tribe it surrounds. It provides COVID-19 vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna boosters to adults and now shots for children as young as 5.

<\/p>\r\nThe clinic, which began operations in mid-2013 and services the communities around Tuba City, primarily provides such medical services as physicals, non-COVID-19 vaccines, some lab testing and pharmacy medications, and even physical exams for commercial drivers license candidates. Since regular health care operations at the hospital resumed in July, the clinic on average sees about 20 patients a day.

<\/p>\r\nTs\u00e9hootsoo\u00ed Medical Center in Fort Defiance also has a mobile medical unit that provides similar services to communities that lack transportation.

<\/p>\r\n \"COVID-19<\/a>

COVID-19 vaccines, flu shots and more are available at the Tuba City Regional Health Care mobile medical unit on November 19, 2021, at Moenkopi Legacy Inn in Tuba City, Arizona. Photo by Sierra Alvarez \/ Cronkite News <\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nShortly after the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines late last year, Tuba City Regional Health Care, along with other Indian Health Services hospitals across the Navajo Nation, conducted mass vaccine blitzes where hundreds of people, including entire families, were vaccinated.

<\/p>\r\nAs a result of such efforts, 59% of those living on the reservation have been fully vaccinated, the Navajo Department of Health <\/a>reports. As of December 13, 54% of Arizonans were fully vaccinated, according to the state Department of Health Services<\/a>, as was 60.9% of the U.S. population overall, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a> said.

<\/p>\r\nAdvertisements and social media played a critical role in informing the Navajo Nation about vaccination events.

<\/p>\r\n \"COVID-19<\/a>

Clarissa Begay, referral coordinator and quality specialist for Tuba City Regional Health Care, says word got out about the hospital\u2019s mobile medical unit through social media posts, school flyers, text-message blasts and regular postings at chapter houses, convenience stores and schools on the Navajo Nation. Photo by Sierra Alvarez \/ Cronkite News <\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nClarissa Begay, referral coordinator and quality specialist for Tuba City Regional Health Care, said word got out through a combination of social media posts, school flyers, text-message blasts and regular postings about vaccination events at chapter houses, convenience stores and schools on the vast reservation.

<\/p>\r\nAcross the Navajo Nation, such additional measures as curfews and lockdowns, mask mandates, limits on occupancy in businesses and physical distancing were enforced to limit potential spread of the coronavirus. Except for curfews and lockdowns, most of those measures remain in effect and are adjusted according to the number of positive cases, as outlined in the Navajo Reopening<\/a> plan.

<\/p>\r\nThe continuance of such measures is a stark contrast to the rest of Arizona\u2019s mitigation efforts, which have largely reverted to pre-pandemic conditions.

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