Navajo Nation reports 158 new COVID-19 cases, 2 more deaths
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WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – The Navajo Nation began receiving coronavirus vaccine doses on Monday as tribal health officials reported 158 additional COVID-19 cases and two more related deaths.
In all, the tribe has reported 19,766 virus cases resulting in 722 deaths since the pandemic began.
On Monday, Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Vice President Myron Lizer visited the Gallup Indian Medical Center as the first vaccine shipment arrived.
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Associated Press
Leading legislators in New Mexico say the next regular legislative session in early 2021 is likely to take place in a hybrid of in person and online.
Democratic Senate majority leader Peter Wirth of Santa Fe said Monday that a huge piece of the next session likely will be conducted online through video conferencing as a precaution against pandemic dangers. He noted that many local governments are conducting public business entirely online.
The comments came during an online-only meeting of top-ranked lawmakers and legal counsel to the Legislature. The state s lead budget writing committee last week abandoned in-person meetings. It was unclear what prompted that decision.
U.S. Public Health Service Lt. Cmdr. Erica Harker, left, an Indian Health Service Navajo Area pharmacy consultant and a member of the Zuni Tribe, and Gallup Indian Medical Center Chief of Pharmacy Vicky Chavez prepare COVID-19 vaccines to be redistributed from GIMC to other health care facilities on the Navajo Nation, December 14, 2020. Photo: IHS
COVID-19 vaccine arrives in Indian Country as cases continue to rise
‘A historic day in this fight’
Monday, December 14, 2020
Indianz.Com
Facilities across Indian Country have begun distributing a newly approved COVID-19 vaccine but the vast majority of tribal citizens will have to wait before they can be protected from a disease that continues to ravage their communities.
Health care workers transport the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to Sage Memorial Hospital in Ganado.
Credit Sage Memorial Hospital
President Jonathan Nez and Vice President Myron Lizer visited the Gallup Indian Medical Center as the first shipments arrived. The tribe is expecting nearly 4,000 doses by today with nearly 8,000 more arriving next week.
The vaccines will cover healthcare workers, emergency medical staff, traditional practitioners working in Indian Health Service facilities, and the staff and patients in long-term nursing homes. Navajo health officials Monday reported nearly 160 new known COVID cases and two more deaths from the virus. Nearly 20,000 people on the Navajo Nation has tested positive since the pandemic began and 722 have died.
Navajo Nation receives 1st shipment of COVID-19 vaccine Shondiin Silversmith, Arizona Republic
As the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines roll out across the U.S. this week, the Navajo Nation received its first doses Monday and plans to administer them to health care workers starting Tuesday.
The pandemic has at times overwhelmed the Navajo Nation, which earlier this year had the highest infection rate per capita. The daily number of COVID-19 positive cases has risen sharply during the latest wave of the virus, according to data from the Navajo Nation Department of Health.
On Monday, Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Vice President Myron Lizer visited the Gallup Indian Medical Center as the Navajo Area IHS received the first shipment of the vaccines.