Expanding vaccine eligibility at SIHB

As of Monday, February 1, Seattle Indian Health Board has entered a new phase of our vaccine distribution plan. All relatives, ages 50 and older, are eligible for the vaccine—regardless of race, ethnicity, tribal affiliation, or health status. Please note that we cannot make exceptions for relatives who are not yet eligible to receive the vaccine.

While we are expanding vaccine eligibility beyond the Native community, it is still our purpose to ensure access to the vaccine for all Indigenous people. Indigenous people are among the most affected by this pandemic, suffering from COVID-19 infection, illness, and mortality at disproportionate rates. Ensuring Native people have access to COVID-19 resources like the vaccine is critical to our mission: to advocate for, provide, and ensure culturally appropriate, high quality, and accessible health and human services to American Indians and Alaska Natives.

Scheduling vaccine appointments

We continue to schedule vaccine appointments over the phone at 206-324-9360 at extension 2020. Our goal is to respond to messages from or about eligible relatives within 24 hours.

Due to an extremely high volume of calls, we are unable to respond to messages about relatives who are not yet eligible to receive the vaccine.

For those who are not yet eligible to receive the vaccine at SIHB, you can sign up to receive an email notification when we further expand vaccine eligibility. If you’d like to explore other ways to receive the vaccine, please visit Washington State Phase Finder.

Please only call if you are age 50 or older AND you have not already left a voice message with your information. We ask that you refrain from calling if you are under age 50, or if you are 50 or older and have already left a voice message.

Registering is not a commitment to future care

You do not need to be an established patient to receive the vaccine at SIHB. When you register to receive the vaccine at Seattle Indian Health Board, you are not committing to receive future care here. You are not required to change providers or transfer care if you do not wish to do so.

Considerations if you have recently received a different, routine vaccine

There is limited data on whether it is safe and effective to get either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine with other vaccines. At this time, the COVID-19 vaccine should be given alone, at least 14 days (2 weeks) before or after you get any other type of vaccine. (Source: doh.wa.gov)

Considerations if you have contracted or been exposed to COVID-19

The CDC recommends that anyone who has previously had COVID-19 get the vaccine.

  • If you were recently infected with COVID-19, you can choose to wait 90 days after the illness before getting vaccinated. Data suggests that it may be uncommon to be reinfected with COVID-19 in the 90 days after infection.
  • If you have already had an immune response to COVID-19, it is possible that the side effects of the vaccine may be stronger.
  • If you currently have COVID-19, please wait to get vaccinated until you have completed your isolation period at home, away from other members of your household (via WA Department of Health).
    • If you have confirmed or suspected COVID-19 with symptoms, you can stop isolating at home when you have been fever-free for 24 hours, without fever-reducing medication, your symptoms have gotten better, AND at least 10 days have passed since your symptoms appeared.
    • If you have tested positive for COVID-19 but have not had any symptoms, you can stop your home isolation when at least 10 days have gone by since the date of your first positive COVID-19 test AND you have not gotten sick with COVID-19.
  • If you have recently been exposed to COVID-19, please wait to get the vaccine until after you have quarantined at home, away from others, for 14 days.

(Source: doh.wa.gov)

Learn More

Vaccine Phases at Seattle Indian Health Board
To learn more about the vaccine at Seattle Indian Health Board, please read our COVID-19 Vaccine FAQs.

Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines
Our research division, Urban Indian Health Institute, has developed fact sheets to provide our relatives with accurate, culturally relevant information on the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines. Download these sheets to learn more about the vaccines’ safety, potential side effects, and benefits.