COVID increases on the Umatilla Indian Reservation

By Terry Murry on Friday, June 25th, 2021 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories

MISSION – The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation had a relatively peaceful April and May, with very few to no new COVID-19 cases being reported. That changed in June.

“As of last week we had 12 active cases on the reservation,” Interim Deputy Executive Director Matthew Johnson said. “That is concerning.”

Even more concerning is that Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center reported that of those 12, four cases involved people who had been fully vaccinated.

“We do know that the Pfizer vaccine, which is the primary vaccine that Yellowhawk has administered, is 95 percent effective,” Johnson said. “That’s obviously not 100 percent.”

Johnson said health officials are disturbed by the low vaccination rate on the reservation. The CTUIR Board of Trustees has approved a vaccine incentive plan be developed and the details will be announced in the near future. The plan will be for tribal members, as well as employees of tribal government and business entities.