As early as April 2020, just a month after the pandemic swept across the U.S., tribal nations were proactively offering COVID-19 testing for the general public. Once vaccines began to roll out in early 2021, tribal nations distributed them under a prioritized and phased timeline developed in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance.
This assistance from tribal nations helped make Oklahoma one of the top 10 states for vaccine rollout.5 But the pandemic added to sharp economic disparities that are longstanding. Prior to the pandemic, the median household income for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) households was about $ lower than for non-Hispanic White households.