Public Health Officials Move To Protect Native Americans Against Measles Outbreak

RAPID CITY, S.D. — Native American tribes and health organizations are responding to concerns about low measles vaccination rates and patients’ difficulty getting care as an outbreak of the disease spreads around the country.

They’re hosting mobile vaccine clinics, running social media campaigns, making sure health providers are vaccinated, reaching out to the parents of unvaccinated children, and hosting online training sessions.

The push to ensure Native American communities are protected from the virus comes as the U.S. is experiencing its worst measles outbreak since 1992. The South Dakota health department announced in early June that the first case in the state was an adult from the Rapid City area.

Cassandra Palmier and her son, Makaito Cuny, have benefited from this outreach. Palmier jumped at the opportunity to get her 5-year-old vaccinated after learning that a mobile clinic would make a stop near her home in a predominately Native American neighborhood in Rapid City.

She had been meaning to get Makaito his second and final dose of the measles vaccine. But car problems made it difficult to get to the doctor.

“I was definitely concerned about the epidemic and the measles,” said Palmier, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. “I wanted to do my part.”

Meghan O’Connell is the chief public health officer at the Great Plains Tribal Leaders’ Health Board, which organized the mobile clinic. She said data on Native Americans’ vaccination rates is imperfect but suggests that a smaller percentage have received measles shots than the overall U.S. population.

O’Connell said lower vaccination rates may stem from challenges in accessing shots and other health care. Native Americans on rural reservations may be an hour or more from a clinic. Or, like Palmier, they may not have reliable transportation.

Another reason, O’Connell said, is that some Native Americans distrust the Indian Health Service, which is chronically underfunded and understaffed. If the federal agency runs the only nearby health care facility, patients may delay or skip care, she said.

Mirroring a nationwide trend, vaccine skepticism and mistrust of the entire health care system are growing in Native American communities, O’Connell added.

During the mobile clinic’s stop in his Rapid City neighborhood, Makaito walked onto the bus and hopped into an exam chair.

“I’m not going to be scared,” he announced. Makaito sat still as a nurse gave him the shot and placed a bandage on his arm. “I did it!” he said while smiling at his mother.