PENDLETON — Kyndra Nelson was nervous.

She shuffled side-to-side waiting at the front of the line wearing her cross-country uniform for the meet planned later than afternoon. She’s terrified of shots, but she found solace in the fact that, at the very least, “it won’t hurt like breaking my arm did.”

Nelson sat down in a booth. Two members of the Oregon National Guard prepared her vaccine. One took her arm and asked her if she could relax.

“I’m trying,” she said, her head turned over her left shoulder. In moments, it was over. She threw her hands over head and exhaled relief.

Nelson was one of more than 1,100 people who received a COVID-19 vaccine at a two-day clinic at Wildhorse Resort & Casino at the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation last week, as Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center, assisted by the Oregon National Guard, makes its final push to effectively immunize as many people connected to the reservation as possible.

Like the first clinic in February, the Tribes were assisted by local members of the National Guard to efficiently move hundreds of people through the vaccination process. It’s the only time the National Guard have assisted a tribal entity with a mass vaccination effort in Oregon, guardsmen said.

“It still amazes me, the fact that it’s gone as well as it has,” said Lt. Matthew Booher, a seven-year guardsman from Hermiston, who was serving in his first operation in Umatilla County. “It took seven years, and I’m always concerned with my state, but now I’m actually serving my county.”

This time, however, tribal health officials extended vaccine eligibility to school children in an attempt to bring area high school students back to in-person classes safely on Monday, March 29. In all, 80 students and 25 school teachers received a vaccine at Wildhorse, according to Yellowhawk officials.

“This pandemic has shut down everything, and I’m very tired of it,” said Nelson, a senior at Pendleton High School. “I’m excited that progress is being made with treating it and taking care of it.”

When Nelson heard that she was eligible for a vaccine, she knew she wanted to get the shot. She’s headed to Eastern Oregon University in the fall, where she’ll study to be a teacher, like her mom. Getting the shot was her way to help bring things back to normal, with hopes that by next fall, she’ll be meeting other students in the dorms.

“I want to have a normal college experience, and I’m hoping this will get us at least part of the way there,” she said.

‘I don’t want to give (COVID-19) to someone else’

Between the clinics at Wildhorse in February and March, Yellowhawk officials fully immunized more than 1,000 people against COVID-19, Indians and non-Indians, bringing the total number of people vaccinated on the reservation to more than 2,600 since December 2020, according to Yellowhawk officials. At the first clinic, 85% of those who received a shot were non-Indians.

“We want to make sure as many people in Umatilla County get vaccinated so we can start moving toward some normalcy,” Yellowhawk Chief Executive Officer Lisa Guzman said. “So by us reaching out to Umatilla County, Pendleton and local areas, we would be making that contribution to the public’s safety and get rid of this pandemic.”

In response to a rise in COVID-19 cases reported among local teens, tribal health officials extended vaccine eligibility to area students over the age of 16 and educators. Guzman said the health center is already looking at how they can make plans to encourage more students to come out and get the shot.

“We had 80 youth, but it would have been nice if we saw higher numbers,” she said, adding that the communication department is looking to reach out and educate more teens about why it’s important to get the vaccine. “I think by developing (this) event so quickly, we didn’t have the time to get out that educational awareness.”

Among the students vaccinated were twin brothers Scott and Ron Train, sophomores at Pendleton High School. The brothers are goalies on the high school soccer team. Earlier this month, the team, along with the dance team, had a spike in cases and were quarantined. The soccer team missed four matches.

“It was frustrating,” Ron Train said.

On March 29, however, the Trains will be back at school with their friends, as Pendleton High School reopens with hybrid classes. They said they’re excited to see friends and chat with teachers in-person, and they hope by getting the vaccine, they’re helping keep others safe.

“I don’t want to give (COVID-19) to someone else,” Scott Train said. “I don’t want to get it, hopefully, or when I do get it, it’s not as severe. It’s more safe for people.”

Moving back to normal

The clinic was a last effort to return tribal operations nearly to normal in the coming months, as officials have said tribal government and business operations are to reopen in April, aside from maintaining standard health and safety guidelines like mask wearing.

Guzman said the Tribe’s Incident Command Team is monitoring the state of the pandemic to determine how the reopening process will go, since there have been several positive cases recently reported on the reservation.

Unlike Native American communities elsewhere, which have borne the brunt of the pandemic with disproportionately high rates of COVID-19 infection, hospitalization and death, the CTUIR has managed to keep case counts relatively low.

Since the pandemic began, 254 COVID-19 cases, 13 hospitalizations and one death have been reported on the reservation, according to data from Yellowhawk.

And aside from changing certain operations, some tribal enterprises have even managed to turn a profit in 2020, which officials have credited to the proactive approach of the Tribes.

“We’re slowly moving toward the reopening,” Guzman said.

Meanwhile, Yellowhawk officials are looking at reintroducing things like in-person visitation at the clinic, increasing transportation services, and potentially opening the senior center by May 1.