Navajo hospital vaccinates 2,400 people in one day
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‘That was a big, crazy day’ By Shannon Mullane Durango and Pine River Valley reporter
Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021 5:03 AM Updated: Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021 10:35 PM Vehicles line up for miles outside the community COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the Navajo Nation Shiprock Chapter House in early January. Health professionals were able to administer more than 1,700 vaccine doses at the drive-thru clinic, along with more than 500 doses at the hospital, on the same day. Courtesy of Chris Percy/Northern Navajo Medical Center
The Navajo Nation reported 160 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, as public health authorities continued the first round of vaccinations among the hard-hit Indigenous population in the southwestern United States.
A first shipment of roughly 3,900 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine that arrived on Monday and Tuesday was being administered to front-line healthcare workers and staff in long-term care facilities, Dr Loretta Christensen, chief medical officer of the Navajo Area Indian Health Service (NAIHS), told Al Jazeera.
“All of our major facilities in Navajo received a portion of vaccines, and all of them have been administering vaccines, with the anticipation of finishing all vaccines by this weekend,” Christensen said.