HHS Extends Deadline for Tribal Nations to Choose COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution
New Deadline: November 6, 2020
On October 30, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a Dear Tribal Leader Letter announcing Operation Warp Speed approval of a one-week extension for tribal nations with healthcare facilities to determine their vaccine distribution preference. Tribal nations with healthcare facilities now have until November 6, 2020, to contact Indian Health Service (IHS) if they would like to be included in IHS’s distribution plan, or contact their State health authority if they wish to be included in the state’s vaccine distribution.
Tribal nations are encouraged to reach out to their state health authority and their IHS Area Office COVID Vaccine Point of Contact to better understand the details of their COVID-19 plan in order to make this decision based on the most updated information available.
Indian Health Service Area Vaccine Point of Contact
- Alaska: Evangelyn Dotomain (evangelyn.dotomain@ihs.gov)
- Albuquerque: CAPT Wil Darwin (Wil.darwin@ihs.gov)
- Bemidji: Melissa Opsahl (Melissa.opsahl@ihs.gov)
- Billings: Janice Roth (Janice.roth@ihs.gov) and Angela Trout (angela.troutt@ihs.gov)
- California: Rachel Harvey (Rachel.Harvey@IHS.gov)
- Great Plains: Dayle Knutson (dayle.knutson@ihs.gov) and Brent Rohlfs (brent.rohlfs@ihs.gov)
- Nashville: Nathan Wyatt (Nathan.Wyatt@ihs.gov)
- Navajo: Sherri Helton (sherri.helton@ihs.gov)
- Oklahoma City: CAPT Brian Wren (brian.wren@ihs.gov)
- Phoenix: CDR Loretta Haven (Loretta.haven@ihs.gov)
- Portland: CAPT Roney Won (Roney.won@ihs.gov)
- Tucson: Dr. Rodrigo Villar (Rodrigo.villar@ihs.gov)
For general questions or concerns, contact the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) Federal Entities Planning Team at eocevent474@cdc.gov.NCAI Contact: Nicholas Courtney, Policy Analyst, ncourtney@ncai.org