
National Council of Urban Indian Health
1 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Suite 800-D
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202.544.0344
The National Council of Urban Indian Health (NCUIH) has long supported equitable vaccination access for urban American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) people. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, AI/AN adults were over 20% less likely to have received their yearly vaccine and 40% more likely to be admitted to the ICU due to influenza than their non-Hispanic White counterparts.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a renewed public attention to vaccine-preventable illness. Staying up to date on COVID-19 vaccination remains the best line of protection against at disease that has hospitalized AI/AN people 3.1 times as often as non-Hispanic White people.
With support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), NCUIH has been working to promote equitable adult vaccination and prevent severe illnesses such as COVID-19 and influenza. We do this by enhancing the resource and evidence base, developing effective strategies for health care organizations, and creating culturally appropriate materials for individual clinicians that reflect the needs of urban AI/AN people.
Urban AI/AN people have long experienced disparities in access to vaccines. In April 2021, NCUIH partnered with Native American Lifelines (NAL), the Indian Health Service (IHS), and University of Maryland Baltimore (UMB) to increase availability of COVID-19 vaccinations for the over 65,000 urban Indians living in the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia metropolitan area.
For more information on the partnership, contact NCUIH. To schedule a vaccination appointment, contact Native American Lifelines in Baltimore.
NCUIH also provides direct support and technical assistance to UIOs who are developing or adapting vaccination plans. For more information, visit our Storytellers project or access templates and a discussion forum via our Emergency & Vaccine Planning Center.
NCUIH has created two toolkits for local partners to use in promoting COVID-19 and influenza vaccinations. Join us in our efforts to encourage urban Indians in our communities to #BeAGoodRelative and get vaccinated!
NCUIH has also created four videos that promote staying up to date on COVID-19, seasonal influenza, and other adult vaccinations.
Protecting the ones you love means protecting yourself. Be a good relative and talk to a provider to get vaccinated for COVID-19, Influenza, and other illnesses!
NCUIH is grateful to our three UIO Ambassadors of the #BeAGoodRelative campaign, who assisted with material review and rollout to create our influenza vaccination materials.
This content was funded in part by a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC-RFA-IP21-2107). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this resource do not necessarily represent the policy of CDC or HHS and should not be considered an endorsement by the Federal Government.