Indian Health Service steps up COVID, other vaccine push

PHOENIX (AP) — The Indian Health Service says all tribal members covered by the federal agency will be offered a vaccine at every appointment, when appropriate. Tursday’s announcement of the new vaccine strategy said that throughout the coronavirus pandemic, American Indians and Alaska Natives have had among the nation’s highest COVID-19 vaccination rates. But Indigenous people are especially vulnerable to vaccine-preventable illness. IHS officials recently noticed fewer patients were getting the vaccine. Patients have also fallen behind in jabs for childhood diseases such as measles, mumps and rubella as well as shingles shots for older adults and flu shots for all.