MISSION — Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation has so far immunized about 730 tribal elders, health care workers and first responders against COVID-19, according to Yellowhawk officials as of Thursday, Jan. 14.

Since vaccination efforts began on the reservation in mid-December 2020, the health center has received 2,050 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which is stored in a deep freezer.

As of Thursday, Jan. 14, Yellowhawk had 1,069 doses of the vaccine in stock, which officials say should be used up by the end of February.

The supply, provided to Yellowhawk by the Indian Health Service, has been enough to inoculate close to 300 people a second time, making them fully immunized against coronavirus.

Umatilla County, in comparison, has fully immunized only four residents against COVID-19, according to data from the county health department as of Sunday, Jan. 17.

A total of 2,457 county residents have received their first dose of the vaccine — just over 3% of the county’s total population.

Yellowhawk has so far received three shipments of the Pfizer vaccine from IHS — on Dec. 17, 2020, Dec. 22, 2020, and Jan. 6. Officials say it has taken about 8 days after each shipment to utilize all of its allocated supply.

Among Yellowhawk employees, approximately 90 have been immunized, according to the health center.

Yellowhawk began inoculating tribal health care workers on Dec. 18, 2020, and within three days had immunized 300 people. Umatilla County, however, got a slower start, beginning their immunizations 10 days later.

Last week, as the vaccine supply elsewhere in Umatilla County was already dwindling to just a few hundred doses, state officials scrambled for a new plan after learning that an increased supply of vaccines, which the Trump administration promised would be shipped to states to help expand immunization efforts, did not exist.

State officials quickly changed plans, announcing that teachers would be eligible for immunizations starting Monday, Jan. 25, and that residents over the age of 80 would have to wait until Feb. 8.

After learning that Umatilla County would not be receiving any vaccines during the week of Jan. 18-25 due to the shortage, the health department announced that two vaccination events would be canceled.

Like Umatilla County, it is unclear when the next shipment of the vaccine will arrive at Yellowhawk, according to officials at the health center.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been changed to reflect a correction. The story misstated that Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center has received 2,050 vials of the COVID-19 vaccine in total and had 1,069 vials in stock. The health center has received 2,050 doses in total and has 1,069 doses in stock.]