{"id":22966,"date":"2022-04-08T13:35:43","date_gmt":"2022-04-08T17:35:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=22966"},"modified":"2022-04-08T13:35:43","modified_gmt":"2022-04-08T17:35:43","slug":"kaiser-health-news-covid-19-booster-rates-lagging-among-native-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2022\/04\/08\/kaiser-health-news-covid-19-booster-rates-lagging-among-native-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Kaiser Health News: COVID-19 booster rates lagging among Native people"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Wes Studi Offers COVID-19 Vaccine Guidance to Tribal Communities <\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n
\u2018The Danger Is Still There\u2019 \u2015 As Omicron Lurks, Native Americans Are Wary of Boosters<\/div>\r\n
Friday, April 8, 2022<\/div>\r\n
By Rachana Pradhan<\/div>\r\n
Kaiser Health News<\/div>\r\n
khn.org<\/a><\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nWhen covid-19 vaccines first became available, Native Americans acted swiftly and with determination to get their shots \u2014 as though they had everything to lose.

<\/P>\tCovid hospitalization and death rates for American Indians and Alaska Natives had skyrocketed past those of non-Hispanic whites. Leveraging established systems like the Indian Health Service and tribal organizations, Native Americans urgently administered vaccines. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed they achieved the highest vaccination rates of any race or ethnicity.

<\/P>Yet, tribal health officials said, they eventually ran up against the challenges that broadly stalled the U.S. vaccination campaign, particularly in persuading people to get booster shots.

<\/P>Nationally, 72% of American Indians and Alaska Natives of all ages had received at least one dose of a covid vaccine as of March 28, and 59% were fully vaccinated \u2014 having received two doses of Moderna\u2019s or Pfizer-BioNTech\u2019s vaccine or one dose of Johnson & Johnson\u2019s. A much smaller share had received booster shots \u2014 44% of fully vaccinated Native Americans ages 12 and up, below the booster rates for whites, Asian Americans, and Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.

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"I wish for all the parents to get their kids vaccinated."\r\nUNR Tiny Tot Princess\r\nRSIC Tribal Member\r\nKarianna John<\/p>Posted by Reno-Sparks Indian Colony<\/a> on Tuesday, February 22, 2022<\/blockquote><\/div>\r\n

Reno-Sparks Indian Colony: “I wish for all the parents to get their kids vaccinated”<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/p>Tribal health experts say data problems may be partly to blame, but there are other factors. It\u2019s proved more difficult in recent months to find shots and book appointments. Some people weren\u2019t convinced about the value of a third shot, a hesitancy fueled by evolving scientific understanding of the virus and a distrust of the federal government entrenched in tribal communities.

<\/P>\u201cSometimes I think the people I talk to see it as, \u2018Hey, we got our first and second shot. You guys have told us that\u2019s what we need, and we\u2019re going to be OK,\u2019\u201d said Angie Wilson, who until recently served as tribal administrator of the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony<\/a>, a federally recognized tribe in Nevada with about 1,200 members.

<\/P>Reno-Sparks provides a glimpse into what it takes to increase vaccinations. Before the omicron variant arrived in early December, vaccinations had plateaued, and many members were expressing apathy about getting additional shots, she said. After omicron caused a sharp rise in cases, Reno-Sparks mandated that its employees be fully vaccinated and boosted. It also used money provided by the American Rescue Plan Act to offer cash<\/a> to members: $1,000 for getting the initial doses and $500 for a booster, regardless of whether they lived on or off the reservation.

<\/P>Those incentives and rising counts of breakthrough infections sparked renewed interest and persuaded roughly 130 people to get boosters within six weeks. Thirty-five percent of eligible Reno-Sparks\u2019 tribal members had been boosted as of late March. The rates of first and second shots rose, too: 60% of members 5 and older had received an initial dose, while 56% were fully vaccinated.

<\/P>The tribal land is in an urban area in Reno, and the reservation has a Walmart Supercenter.\u00a0Nevada lifted its statewide mask mandate abruptly February 10<\/a>.

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Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Wes Studi Offers COVID-19 Vaccine Guidance to Tribal Communities<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nWith precautions to limit covid\u2019s spread falling by the wayside, tribal officials fear what any gaps in vaccination will mean for their communities. American Indians and Alaska Natives have been hospitalized for covid<\/a> at three times the rate of white Americans and have died of covid at double the rate of whites, according to the CDC. Nationally, as of March 28, fewer than half of booster-eligible Native residents had received them<\/a>.

<\/P>\u201cI can see where we\u2019re heading, which is concerning,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cI worry about our tribal population, especially with our risk factors.\u201d

<\/P>The challenges were evident even before the FDA on March 29 authorized a second booster<\/a> dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines for anyone 50 or older and certain immunocompromised people. Tribal members and health experts see several reasons that booster rates have not been higher, despite employing more aggressive vaccination measures than surrounding states and counties.

<\/P>Virginia Hedrick, executive director of the California Consortium for Urban Indian Health, said, \u201cI do think that IHS really rose to the occasion when it came to the pandemic and vaccine rollout.\u201d Still, \u201cany time we have something change,\u201d she said of the vaccine, \u201cit raises questions for folks.\u201d

<\/P>In the fall, Hedrick said, her mother-in-law saw ads for booster shots all over the place but still couldn\u2019t get an appointment. \u201cThere was a general sense of frustration,\u201d she said.

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