Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
December 16, 2020 - Vol. 45, No. 26
December – Nch’i-An - Winter - Yiyam
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
Vaccine soon for front-line, High Lookee residents
Warm Springs health officials
expect an initial shipment of 200
Covid-19 vaccine doses by the end
of December. The initial shipment
would enough for front-line health
workers serving the tribal commu-
nity; plus staff and residents of High
Lookee Lodge, said Dr. Rachel
Locker, clinic vaccine coordinator.
The first shipments to Warm
Springs will be the Moderna vac-
cine, found to be “highly effective”
against Covid-19: Final testing shows
the Moderna vaccine to have 94-per-
cent efficacy against the virus.
The U.S. Food and Drug Admin-
istration will meet this Thursday to
consider granting emergency use
authorization of the Moderna vac-
cine. Large-scale shipments could
begin the following day or this week-
end. At the local level, “We’re ex-
pecting our initial shipment before
the end of the year,” Dr. Locker
said.
Most of the IHS and Tribal
clinic staff, about 130 employees,
have indicated they will receive a
Covid-19 vaccine, Dr. Locker said.
Two doses of the vaccine are
required for immunization: The sec-
ond dose comes approximately 28
days after the first. The 200 doses
in the initial shipment would be ad-
ministered to the front-line workers—
doctors, nurses, emergency response
and other care providers—and the
High Lookee Lodge residents. The
second dose for these individuals
would come from a subsequent vac-
cine shipment to Warm Springs.
The Moderna vaccine will be the
second Covid-19 vaccine to receive
FDA emergency use authorization.
Distribution and use of the Pfizer
vaccine began last week.
The Moderna vaccine is better
suited for smaller hospitals and clin-
ics in rural areas, because it is
shipped in smaller quantities than
Pfizer’s. The Moderna vaccine also
does not have to be stored at the
super-low temperature of the Pfizer
vaccine. The Moderna can be
stored at a temperature like a regu-
lar freezer.
As with other care facilities,
Warm Springs IHS follows the es-
tablished Centers for Disease Con-
trol guidelines for the order of dis-
tribution of the vaccine. In general
terms:
The front-line health care and
emergency response personnel, and
elder care facility residents, are first;
followed by other essential employ-
ees, people 65 and older, people 55
and older who have a comorbidity—
that is, some other disease; and the
general public. For the entire com-
munity of Warm Springs to receive
the vaccine—by sometime into the
spring—approximately 13,000
doses eventually would be needed,
Dr. Locker said.
Shutdown through Dec. 27
In response to the continued
increase in Covid-19 cases, the
Confederated Tribes Response
Team recommended to Tribal
Council a continued shutdown
of the tribal government.
Tribal Council on December
9 approved the recommenda-
tion.
The renewed closure is now
in effect through Sunday, De-
cember 27, with an expected re-
turn to work date of Monday,
December 28. The tribal orga-
nization will continue to provide
essential services to the commu-
nity, and the following will be
imposed:
The shutdown through De-
cember 27 does not apply to es-
sential services typically defined
as the Police Department, Fire
and Safety, Emergency Medical
Technicians, Public Utilities, etc.
In addition, other essential
service functions have been de-
fined during this pandemic to
include Finance, Health and
Human Services, Day Care, etc.
These employees are deter-
mined by the branch managers
and directors.
The Covid-19 team discour-
ages traveling out of state. If a
tribal employees travels out of
state, he or she will be required
to report the travel to his or her
immediate supervisor. The em-
ployee will be required to take a
Covid-19 test prior to returning
to work, with documentation of
a negative result.
A look back at reservation and tribal news of 2020
A s a tradition in December,
the Spilyay looks back at some of
the memorable events of the past
year on the reservation.
Sometimes the big news is open
for discussion: In 2018, for in-
stance, the tribes saw the closure
of Kah-Nee-Ta Resort. While that
same year the tribes and Indian
Head Casino opened the Plateau
Travel Plaza. Both of these were
memorable occasions.
Last year the question was a little
clearer: In the spring of 2019—
just after the Twenty-Eighth Tribal
Council took office—the tribes be-
gan an Agency-wide boil water no-
tice. This lasted into the summer—
an unprecedented event at the
time.
This year the reservation saw
another months-long boil-water
notice; plus the massive Lionshead
forest fire. Meanwhile at Congress
the tribes were able to nullify the
false ‘treaty of 1865.’ Even this
news, though, could not surpass the
single most memorable develop-
ment of 2020—the most memo-
rable event in recent memory.
In February 2020 no one had
heard much about Covid-19. It was
a mystery illness happening in
China, half a world away. And it
could never reach the U.S., let
alone the Reservation.
Then came March of 2020, and
words that resonate to this day:
The Tribal Council of the Con-
federated Tribes of Warm Springs,
in partnership with the Bureau of
Indian Affairs and the Indian
Spilyay photo
This image from September helps to illustrate the 2020 situation
in Warm Springs: The annual school giveaway was done drive-by
with faimlies and staff wearing masks, and social distancing.
Health Services, declares a State of
Emergency, as a proactive measure
in addressing the Covid-19
coronavirus.
It was late in March, and the
Declaration continued: ‘At this
time there are no confirmed or pre-
sumptive cases of Covid-19 on the
reservation…’
Since those hopeful days the
Warm Springs Health and Wellness
Center has conducted more 6,000
Covid-19 tests—with more than
600 positive results.
Over the past nine months 12
community members have died
from the virus. Sixty people have
been hospitalized. And all parts of
the organization have seen pro-
longed shutdowns.
As this year reaches its conclu-
sion, vaccines are on the way,
though months of precaution are
still ahead of us.
Needless to say, 2020 will al-
ways be remembered on the res-
ervation—and around world—as
the year of the virus.
Dave McMechan
Community covid update
ECE closure
Due to unfortunate circum-
stances from the Covid-19 pan-
demic, the Early Childhood Edu-
cation Center is unable to oper-
ate the facility. ECE anticipates
reopening on Monday, December
21.
Billing will be adjusted as
needed. If there are any billing
questions, please email Nancy
Mendez:
nancy.mendez@wstribes.org
Any other questions can be
sent to Casandra Moses, ECE
manager:
casandra.moses@wstribes.org
The Early Childhood Education
Center is licensed to provide emer-
gency childcare only to essential
staff who are working.
Essential staff are defined as
first responders, emergency work-
ers, health care professionals, fol-
lowed by critical operations staff
and essential personnel.
Warm Springs ECE follows the
Heath and Safety guidelines pro-
vided by the Early Learning Divi-
sion and Oregon Health Author-
ity.
All adults and children entering
the building must have their tem-
perature checked and pass the
health and travel questions. All
adults who enter the building must
wear a mask at all times.
There are no visitors allowed
in the building during the reser-
vation State of Emergency. All
pick-up and drop-off of children
must be done outside the build-
ing.
Community update
A community-wide curfew is
imposed from 10 p.m. to 6 p.m.
during the shutdown.
As of earlier this week, the
Warm Springs Healthness Center
had conducted 6,132 Covid-19
tests. Of those, 5,564 have come
back negative; while there have
been a total of 540 positive cases.
Sixty community members have
been hospitalized with covid, and
55 discharged.
UPDATE continues on page 8
Wishing Warm Springs a Safe and Merry Christmas, from artist Travis Bobb.