CMO Of Indian Health Service Encourages Covid-19 Vaccines

According to Dr. Loretta Christensen, chief medical officer of the Indian Health Service (IHS) COVID-19 has taken a disproportionate toll on American Indians and Alaska Natives. In a phone interview, she elaborated on this.

According to the CDC, nationally, the risk of hospitalization from COVID-19 is approximately three times higher among American Indian and Alaska Native people compared with whites, while the risk of death is approximately double. Christensen said there are several reasons for that.

She is encouraging parents to get COVID-19 vaccines for their children – 6 months and older – at federal, tribal and urban Indian sites. This step to increase COVID-19 vaccine eligibility across the age spectrum is critical in Indian Country. When asked about some strategies the IHS has used to increase vaccination rates among children, she said they encourage them to:

COVID-19 restrictions may also have caused children to fall behind on their routine vaccination schedule for other diseases like chicken pox, measles, and polio. As children return to school (or are now back to school) and other in-person activities, it is important to prioritize getting their vaccinations back on track to protect them from vaccine-preventable diseases. Vaccinating children can help relieve the strain on families by providing greater confidence in children participating in childcare, school, and other activities.

She added that all available COVID-19 vaccines have been shown to be safe and effective in medical studies. In addition to these studies, which involved tens of thousands of volunteers, we now have reassuring safety and effectiveness information following the administration of hundreds of millions of doses of COVID vaccines to people in the United States, including over 2 million doses of COVID vaccine given in American Indian and Alaska Native communities.

For more information, one can contact their local IHS, tribal, or urban Indian organization facility today, or for sites outside of the Indian health system, visit vaccines.gov to find a vaccination site near you. One can also visit the Indian Health Service website for more information.

Dr. Loretta Christensen, MBA, MSJ, FACS,an enrolled member of the Navajo Tribe, serves as the chief medical officer of the Indian Health Service. The IHS, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the principal federal health care provider for American Indians and Alaska Natives.

As the chief medical officer, Dr. Christensen is IHS’ lead expert on medical and public health topics, giving technical consultation and guidance to the IHS Office of the Director and IHS staff throughout the country on American Indian and Alaska Native health care policies and issues.