Biden orders federal support for Navajo Nation’s Covid-19 crisis

Major disaster declared at epicentre of Indian Country where more than 1,000 people have died from disease

President Joe Biden has issued a major disaster declaration for Navajo Nation to send more federal funds to help combat the Covid-19 pandemic, a request that Navajo officials made during Donald Trump’s administration.

The declaration will activate Federal Emergency Management Agency funds for medical staffing, vaccine support and related supplies and personnel.

Leaders of the largest Native reservation – which has been under a state of emergency since the onset of the pandemic – declared a major public health crisis in December amid a surge in coronavirus infections.

Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Vice President Myron Lizer signed a letter on 3 December to then-president Trump and FEMA for the White House to issue a major disaster declaration. The order wasn’t issued until two months later.

On Sunday, Navajo Nation officials met with administration officials to request additional vaccine support and testing kits.

“We have many of our Navajo people who are struggling not only with resources, but with the toll that the pandemic has taken on their mental and spiritual health,” Vice President Lizer said in a statement. “Our people are blessed to have so many of our own people who are stepping up in any ways to help one another as well.”

Navajo officials have administered roughly 54,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines. 

The public health crisis has disproportionately devastated Native populations in the US. More than 1,000 people on the Navajo Nation have died from the disease, with confirmed infections topping more than 28,000. Navajo Nation occupies parts of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico, with a population that’s roughly 175,000.  It had the highest number of positive Covid-19 cases per capita last spring.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Native people are four times more likely than white people to be hospitalised for the disease – the largest disparity among any racial or ethnic group.

Albert Hale,  the second president of Navajo Nation, died on Tuesday from Covid-19 at age 70.

The chronically under-funded Indian Health Service, the health agency that serves Native populations, had critical vacancies across its hospital network during the crisis. The network includes 26 hospitals, 56 health centres and 32 other clinics – all ranging in size, with some servicing only a handful of beds – in areas throughout the US.

FEMA’s acting administrator Robert Fenton said the major disaster declaration “affirms federal support to Navajo leaders and tribal members and the nation-nation partnership” with the federal government.

Senator Mitt Romney of Utah and Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona also introduced bipartisan legislation on Tuesday for $1.3 billion towards the construction of water and sanitation projects for Native communities.

Roughly 18 per cent of Navajo Nation residents lack access to indoor plumbing, which researchers determined was “the most statistically significant finding” in a recent health study, as residents endure a legacy rooted in colonial violence and institutional racism.

“With some of the highest Covid-19 infection rates in the country, the Navajo Nation faces a dire situation – due in large part to a lack of water infrastructure and sanitation facilities,” Senator Romney said in statement.