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As sovereign nations, Native American tribes can distribute COVID-19 vaccine supplies to a wider demographic than the state process can.<\/p>\n
As a result, the Ute Mountain Ute and Navajo tribes recently have made vaccines available to anyone age 18 and older, and plan more open clinics.<\/p>\n
On March 3, the Ute Mountain Ute tribe vaccinated 710 people in Towaoc during a clinic at the casino that was open to any adult, said tribal Chairman Manuel Heart.<\/p>\n
Passersby stopped in after seeing the announcement on the giant Ute Mountain Casino video marquee on U.S. Highway 160\/491, and locals heard about it from news reports and social media.<\/p>\n
Heart said the vaccine clinic was a collaboration with tribal officials, casino staff, tribal health department, Indian Health Service and Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.<\/p>\n
The Ute Mountain Ute tribe has scheduled two more open vaccine clinics open to any adult.<\/p>\n
On March 9, a clinic will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Ute Mountain Casino. The line will begin at the Bingo Hall entrance on the northwest side of the casino. Identification is needed.<\/em>On March 10, an open vaccine clinic will be offered at the White Mesa, Utah Community Center, 1400 U.S. 491, from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Heart said.<\/em>\u201cWe need to look towards everyone getting vaccinated in the Four Corners Region,\u201d Heart said. \u201cKudos to everyone who came out and worked together to make it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n He said opening up the vaccine clinic to everyone \u201cwas a collaborative decision\u201d made by the tribe and state health agencies.<\/p>\n The Utah Navajo Health System opened clinics in February and March in Montezuma Creek, Monument Valley and Blanding. Utah residency or Navajo tribe membership was not required.<\/p>\n However, the clinics have ceased for now, Utah Navajo Health officials said March 3.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were very glad to help so many people far and wide these past few drives,\u201d the agency said in a Facebook post. \u201cHowever to refocus our work\u201d the criteria is now limiting vaccines to adult residents of San Juan County, Utah.<\/p>\n More than 500 adults attended the open Montezuma Creek clinic Feb. 26 and 27, according to Navajo Health System.<\/p>\n On Feb. 27, the health system delivered 471 doses during the Monument Valley clinic. On Feb. 16, it delivered 350 doses at the Blanding clinic.<\/p>\n Indian Health Service\u2019s vaccines come directly from the federal government, and not from states, said IHS public affairs liaison Theresa Clay, thereby competing less for limited supplies.<\/p>\n Tribal governments and their health clinics can decide to distribute the vaccines beyond just tribal members and reservation residents, she said.<\/p>\n Opening up access to the vaccine is seen as effective for tribes, Clay said, because inoculations in areas near the reservation improve overall safety, and because many households have a mix of tribal and non-tribal members.<\/p>\n \u201cIndian Health Service and the tribes have worked very collaboratively on delivering the vaccines to their communities,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Supplying rural reservations such as the Navajo Nation, which was hit hard by the pandemic is a big priority for the IHS, officials said, and as a result it has a high vaccination rate.<\/p>\n For reservation border towns like Cortez, it means access to vaccines faster than Colorado can provide. Colorado currently provides vaccines for specific high-risk groups in Phases 1A and 1B.1, 1B.2 and 1B.3. It has not opened up yet to Phase 2, which includes everyone.<\/p>\n On Thursday, a long line formed outside the Ute Mountain Casino for the free vaccine clinic.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s fantastic, very much appreciated,\u201d said Karen Harbaugh, who traveled from Lewis when she heard about the open clinic.<\/p>\n Under the state system, she is not yet eligible for a vaccine, but her husband qualified and received one.<\/p>\n \u201cWe limited our activities because we were not both vaccinated, so now we will feel safer going out,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Aron Adams came down from Cortez for his first vaccine shot.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s super cool. The more people who get it the better it is for the community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Jamie, Malachi and Darien Wilson said they were \u201cthankful\u201d and glad they did not have to wait as long for the vaccine.<\/p>\n