Minnesota Native News

In Minneapolis, internal medicine physician Tanya Melnik is fighting the illness with many faces: long COVID.

It’s also known as post-COVID…and long haul, chronic, or post-acute COVID. The one thing about it, is that it’s hard to define.

“There is really no one discrete picture that would describe what long COVID is. It looks different for each person who unfortunately ends up suffering from it. Some symptoms are fairly common and they tend to be fatigue, cognitive difficulties that many people describe as brain fog, shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, issues tolerating physical activity. Many other symptoms tend to be fortunately less common, and the diagnosis is really based on fairly extensive history when we evaluate patients that has to be collected,” said Dr. Melnik.

Dr. Melnik is co-director of the M Health Fairview Post COVID clinic, one of many formed in 2020. Physicians across the country had noticed patients were not completely recovering from COVID or they were developing new symptoms. 

Long covid symptoms have a lot of overlap with conditions like chronic fatigue syndrome, so Dr. Melnik says diagnosing it is a process of elimination.

“We take into account what kind of problems patients had before having COVID, what their COVID looked like because unfortunately, post-COVID is more common in people who had moderate and severe disease who ended up being hospitalized or ended up on a ventilator in the ICU. And how those symptoms evolved over time, what got better, what didn’t get better, and what potentially got worse and started anew.,” said Dr. Melnik.

It depends on how you define it, but studies estimate between 10 to 30% of people develop lingering symptoms within three months of having the COVID virus. Current data shows women are significantly more likely to develop long COVID than men.

If you suspect you have long covid, Dr. Melnik says you should talk to your primary care provider. She also recommends connecting with a post-COVID clinic for specialized care, though she recognizes it’s not always the most accessible.

“One of the things we know works for post-COVID is actually rehab, physical therapy, occupational therapy, respiratory therapy. Sometimes people do need evaluation with pulmonary function testing, they need to see cardiology; they need to have some studies done to evaluate the heart and lungs. And that’s not necessarily easy for somebody who lives in a rural community and doesn’t have substantial means to even to pay their co-pays for all those visits. So it’s difficult. And we know that post covid, it can be disabling, so if a person cannot work and cannot get the help that they need for a variety of reasons, they’re stuck,” said Dr. Melnik.

Dr. Melnik acknowledges the progress since 2020. Long covid is now recognized as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Research studies are underway on how to better treat the condition…But she says one sure way to prevent long covid, is to not get covid in the first place. 

“One thing that we have seen is vaccination definitely reduces the risk of a person developing post-COVID condition. It hasn’t been 100% and vaccines at this point do not reduce the risk of COVID to 100%, but there is a significant reduction in terms of the risk of severe illness with vaccination, and we have seen with some relief that people who are vaccinated and boosted actually are less likely to develop post-COVID. So that’s another good reason to be vaccinated and be up-to-date on boosters,” said Dr. Melnik.

Find a more extensive list of long-covid symptoms, as well as information on where to get your COVID-19 vaccines, on our website MinnesotaNativeNews.org/Health

For the Minnesota Native News Health Report, I’m Feven Gerezgiher.

President Biden stirred controversy recently when he declared “the pandemic is over” during a 60 Minutes interview. This amid the White House’s ongoing push to secure $22 billion to continue the fight against COVID-19.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows an average of 481 people died of COVID every day in August. 

With kids back in school and people spending more time indoors, health experts predict an increase in COVID infection rates in upcoming months. They encourage getting the new bivalent booster and to continue testing for prevention.

John Naegli is a pharmacist at Cass Lake Hospital and a vaccine coordinator for about 30 sites serving Indigenous communities across Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. 

“I think the most important time to test yourself is if you've had close contact with a friend or family that tested positive,” Naegli said. “There are a lot of cold viruses going around right now with our kids going back to school, so you are gonna see a lot of negative tests, but it is important especially if you're going to be around elders or be around big crowds.”

Naegli said calling local health departments or walk-in clinics is one way to find testing. Cass Lake offers in-person testing 24 hours a day and has a supply of tests that patients can take home.

Minnesotans can also get at-home rapid tests through the mail, the state extended its program last week and is now offering four additional rapid tests per household. Order those free, at-home rapid tests online at mn.gov/covid19.

State officials additionally advise that costs for over-the-counter, at-home COVID tests are required to be covered by all health plans. They would be free either through reimbursement or at the store with an insurance card. People should verify how to get costs covered with their health plan.

But testing is just one tool in the toolkit, according to Naegli. He explained the new booster is believed to be more effective than the original COVID vaccine.

“It is a combination vaccine. It's a bivalent vaccine, so it covers more than one strain of COVID. It contains the original strain plus the BA.4 and BA.5 strains of COVID. The BA.4 and BA.5 are variants that have been causing most of the positives throughout the country within the last couple of months,” he said.

Both the Pfizer and Moderna bivalent vaccines have been approved. Naegli said they are interchangeable, so people can get either booster regardless of their original vaccine series. The vaccine just has to be separated from your last booster by two months.

With studies showing that it is safe and effective, Naegli hopes more people will get the flu shot alongside the new booster.

“One of the points that we've been trying to push over the last six months to a year is that this pandemic has decreased access to our yearly and required vaccines, especially in our children. Throughout the country, we've seen vaccine-preventable diseases pop up, such as polio was found in New York. So we're seeing that be a problem right now. It's kind of an after effect of the pandemic is we just didn't have the access to care for those kids, so we're trying to catch them up on their vaccines.”

Find appointments across Minnesota for the new bivalent vaccines on the state website mn.gov/covid19.

For the Minnesota Native News Health Report, I’m Feven Gerezgiher.

Welcome to Minnesota Native News..This Week on the Health Report. An updated COVID booster has been approved by the FDA and CDC. Reporter Cole Premo has more…

The CDC and FDA has approved an updated COVID booster vaccine for people 12 years and older. The new boosters include spike proteins that more closely match the ones found in the Omicron BA 4 and BA 5 variants. The CDC says the new booster will help restore protection that has waned since the original COVID shot or previous booster. According to the Yale Medicine, the BA 4 and BA 5 variants account for more than 88 percent of COVID cases in the US right now. 

The updated booster is also known as a “Bi valent” booster, meaning that it draws immunity from the new variants in addition to the original COVID strain. The updated boosters are both MRNA vaccines and do not contain a “live” virus.
 
 In a press statement, Minnesota Department of Health commissioner Jan Malcolm said updated boosters are important to protect against the variants currently spreading and that it’s important to encourage your whole family to get boosted as school starts and we head toward the year in end holidays. She also said quote “Staying up to date on your COVID-19 vaccines is a crucial part of protecting our state in the months ahead,”

Two updated boosters are available; The Pfizer-biontech booster is available for people ages 12 and older and the Moderna for people 18 and over. Both of the updated boosters are a single dose series, and are for people who have already had their initial series of COVID vaccines or have been boosted in the past.

Vaccination sites run by the state of Minnesota, including Mall of America vaccination site, sites in Duluth, St Paul, Rochester and Moorhead has begun administering doses of the updated booster. In addition, pharmacies and community health clinics in the Twin Cities area have begun offering appointments for the updated booster. To search for a place to get your updated booster, visit vaccines dot gov
 
 The CDC and FDA also expects to authorize the new boosters for those 12 years and younger in the near future.

The new booster comes ahead of the expected fall time surge of COVID cases, right now the CDC reports that most counties in Minnesota have low virus transmission rates. But that could change as more people head indoors for the fall and winter time.

In other news…

Free COVID testing is still available for free through the state of Minnesota. People in Minnesota can test for free at community testing sites in Moorhead, Duluth, St. Cloud and Mankato. At home tests are available for free as well and many healthcare clinics provide free testing. For links to the complete details visit Minnesota native news dot org slash health

This is Minnesota Native News. I’m Marie Rock.

A walk to justice. The American Indian Movement is leading a group from Minneapolis to Washington, D.C. to raise awareness for Leonard Peltier, one of the nation’s longest held political prisoners.

Feven Gerezgiher reports.

1,100 miles. 11 weeks. Eight states. That’s how long advocates plan to walk in prayer for elder Leonard Peltier’s release from prison.

There were dreams that were coming to us….

Rachel Thunder led a rally kicking off the spiritual walk last week with the American Indian Movement Grand Governing Council.

I would be in Leonard’s prison cell with him. And he’d be sitting there in bed with his face in his hands and he wouldn’t say anything. But in each of these dreams, I would say, your people are coming to get you. AIM is coming to get you. [20s]  (Your people haven’t forgotten about you. Don’t worry, we’re coming.

Peltier, now 77 years old, has spent 46 years in prison.

Since 1977, he has been incarcerated for his alleged role in the killing of two FBI agents during a shootout on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Activists, human rights organizations, as well as U.S. lawmakers have urged the Biden administration to grant Peltier clemency on the basis of his failing health… and issues with Peltier’s trial which was riddled with misconduct including tampered evidence and witness intimidation.

Frankie Orona is of Chumash and Tongva heritage and is executive director of AIM in Central Texas. He was one of many in attendance at the sunrise ceremony the day after the rally.

We came all the way from Texas. Some came from Southern California, you know, Canada, Arizona, from all many different states and farther distances than that even….I think we're in a crucial point where our voices are being heard, our youth are standing up, and our elders are supporting the younger generations. And there was many that did not know of Leonard and the situation before as much as there is now. 

Nick Estes, a University of Minnesota professor from the Lower Brule Sioux tribe, said Peltier’s incarceration resonates differently as a boarding school survivor.

In some ways, Leonard Peltier has never left the prison, he was taken as a young child, you know, stripped from his family and his community, stripped of his language, his culture. And that's why he joined the American Indian Movement. That's why he fought for rights. That's why he fought for dignity. And now he's back in jail.

…

(So this isn’t just about a political prisoner. It's about the whole history and for this country to actually confront its past because we're trying to move forward and they want to live in the past. They want to hold an elder hostage.)

Nick didn’t learn about Leonard Peltier until college, later joining the International Leonard Peltier Defense Committee. He noted that an Indigenous man, Joseph Stuntz, was killed during the 1975 shootout between AIM and the FBI, yet Stuntz’s death was never investigated.

With growing awareness of historic harms…and more Native people in office.. Nick hopes there is more support for change.

There's a lot of young people like myself, who are very interested in this case, because we see it as a continuation not only of centuries of colonization, but also what they did to water protectors at Standing Rock and at Line Three. In this state, there are many Leonard Peltiers. And you know, and this, this city, Minneapolis was founded on creating Leonard Peltiers. Fort Snelling was a concentration camp where my Dakota ancestors were imprisoned because they did the exact same thing Leonard Peltier did, which is defend land, territory, life and dignity. And in this country, the continued incarceration of Leonard Peltier is the continued incarceration and stamping down of indigenous life and dignity.

The AIM-led group is expected to arrive in D.C. on November 14th. Find updates and more information on their Facebook page “Leonard Peltier’s Walk to Justice.”

For Minnesota Native News, I’m Feven Gerezgiher.

This is Minnesota Native News. I'm Marie Rock. This week…A new program at Saint Cloud State University aims to put more Indigenous teachers in front of Minnesota students. Emma Needham has more on two scholarship programs for Native teachers plus

 a new curriculum plan to help teach Native issues to students throughout Minnesota. 

Minnesota’s students are much more diverse than their teachers. According to the Minnesota Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board, 34 percent of students in Minnesota identify as students of color or Native American while only five percent of their teachers identify the same way. Saint Cloud State University professor Darlene St. Claire is working to change that. 

Another vaccine booster is likely in our future as we navigate the pandemic and live our life with COVID as a part of it. Right now, the CDC recommends everyone 5 years and older should get one booster shot and adults 50 years and older 2 boosters. Some people 12  and older who are moderately or severely immuno-compromised should also get 2 boosters.

This is Minnesota Native News. I’m Marie Rock. This week on Minnesota Native News, members of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe vote on blood quantum requirements. Also, we hear from Juliet Rudie, who now heads the state’s new Office of Missing And Murdered Indigenous Relatives. Here’s reporter Cole Premo. 

In a historic move, members of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe in July voted to remove a decades-old requirement that members have a minimum of 25% Ojibwe blood.

About 64% of voters on an advisory referendum say the blood quantum requirement, which began in the 1960s, should be removed from membership in the six-reservation tribe. 

Also, 57% of voters said each reservation should be allowed to determine its own enrollment requirements. Those reservations include Fond du Lac, Mille Lacs, Bois Forte, Grand Portage, White Earth and Leech Lake. 

Blood quantum requirements have been a source of debate and contention for years. 

Those in favor of ending the requirement say the blood quantum requirement has caused enrollment in the tribe to shrink, with many children not considered members despite having a parent who is. About 15% of the tribe's roughly 39,000 citizens are under age 18.

Those opposed to ending the requirement are concerned that accepting more members will use limited federal or casino-generated funds, and that more people taking advantage of treaty rights will make resources scarce.

The vote does not change the requirement just yet… The referendum is a guide for tribal leaders who will now decide whether to ask voters to amend the tribe's constitution.

Minnesota Native News will have updates as they come in. 

In other news…

Juliet Rudie – a Lower Souix Indian Community citizen – now leads Minnesota’s new office of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives in St. Paul.  It’s the first state office of its kind in the nation. 

The office was created based on the findings of the Missing And Murdered Indigenous Women & Relatives Task Force.

The office will work with the 11 sovereign tribal nations in Minnesota; federal, state, and local law enforcement; federal and state agencies; and community-based organizations and advocates. 

Rudie has nearly 30 years of experience in public safety, starting as a patrol officer for St. Paul police in 1990. She later joined the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office in 2011, serving as an Inspector, Undersheriff of the Administration Division and Chief Deputy. 

Rudie retired in 2017, but she says she felt she needed to do more, something focused on helping native women and children. 

Juliet Rudie recently spoke with my sister Leah Lemm and I on Native Lights: Where Indigenous Voices Shine. Here she is talking about the new position.

“I got a call that said, Hey, this job is going to be posted…. so I read the task force report, which is 163 pages. And I'm like, this document is amazing. They did research on why this was happening and they, and they managed to piece together some data, the data's in silos. So I give kudos to the research company, which is Wilder, where they were able to pull this information and then give it to, um, the task force. And then they were tasked with, um, there were five, uh, areas they were to look at, and then they were, and then from those five areas that came up with these 20 mandates.

so whenever I get like overwhelmed in a, oh, by the scope of the work, I go back and I look at the report and I go, okay, you're on track, Julie, you're doing these things. Um, and, and then, so when I have to report to the legislature in January, I can say, these are the mandates that I touched. 

At this time, Juliet Rudie says she’s narrowing the focus of the office in an effort to tackle as many mandates as possible… 

“it's prevention, um, reporting response, and making sure we have enough for victim resources and those. So that's, those are the four areas that I'm gonna focus on. Um, and then, and it's, it's bigger than that.”

Juliet Rudie is now in the process of hiring more people for the new office.

“I'm determined to make some type of difference, um, for the victims and the victims' families and survivors, because it's just sad … I have a friend who lost his daughter to gun violence. He was a native officer that I worked with… he said to me, he said that we need to do more. We need to do more in our community and we need to be better. We need to make things better. 

You can listen to more of the conversation with Juliet Rudie on Native Lights Where Indigenous Voices Shine. I’m Cole Premo. 

State Representative and Leech Lake Band’s Jamie Becker Finn is expanding her community building focus as a coffee shop owner and entrepreneur. She speaks with Reporter Leah Lemm

This week on Minnesota Native News Health Report, reporter Emma Needham talks with an M.D. about recommendations for COVID vaccines for our littlest relatives, and provides additional information on vaccine availability.

Vaccines against COVID were approved for children ages 6 months and older in June. However, we’re seeing significantly lower rates of vaccination in our youngest eligible age group, those ages 6 months and older.

According to MN.Gov, 58% of the total Native Population in MN has already been vaccinated and 63% of the state’s native children, ages 5 and up, have also received a vaccine. But only 1.2% of native children ages 1-4 in Minnesota are immunized against COVID 19.

I caught up with one doctor practicing in the metro area to talk about vaccines for our youngest relatives. Dr. April Coming Hay is a board-certified physician and an enrolled member in the 3 Affiliated Tribes of North Dakota.

EN: “How is it possible that they’re coming out so quickly, but are yet the most studied? I know we’re watching Science in real-time. But what would you say to a parent who had that question for you?”

“Well, I would say that a lot of the basics for vaccines are not new, per se. We have had mRNA vaccines for several years. And then also we are having the entire world collectively working on these vaccines. So they’re they’re not skipping any steps in the scientific process or in verification, certification, anything like that. they are following all these steps,” said Dr. Coming Hay.

Children get a smaller dose of COVID-19 vaccine than teens and adults. Also, Overall COVID-19 Vaccine Dosage is based on a person’s Age on the Day of Vaccination, Not their Size or Weight.

Dr. Coming Hay says just like anyone else, babies could get a fever or feel discomfort after the vaccine

“You know, with infants, it’s a little bit harder to tell if they’re feeling pain or if they’re having a headache, but common side effects for infants, if they’re going to have them, are going to be similar to any other vaccination that they receive. Sometimes they might have a fever, it can be a high fever, typically up to 102 or 103 is considered a normal response. They might just see more fussy. So babies are going to show them a little bit differently. But some may not have any symptoms at all,” said Dr. Coming Hay.

Vaccine availability is an ongoing question for many parents. Dr. Coming Hay gives advice to parents looking for infant vaccines.

“Other options, besides clinics, are going to be your local pharmacies. Your local health department is a great resource. There also is a website, it’s called vaccines.gov, you can type in your zip code, and it will give you the different locations that you can get an immunization. And you want to make sure to double-check with some of these places that they are going down to the six-month age, some of them are only going five and above, as well,” Dr. Coming Hay

The vaccines.gov website reminds users that vaccines for ages 6 months are being shipped daily and to frequently check back if you did not see any options in their area.

As of right now, only Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna have been approved for ages 6 months and older.  Johnson & Johnson and the Novavax are only for those 18 and older. A primary series for anyone younger than age 50 is two vaccinations, plus one booster, with exceptions made for those with compromised immune systems and chronic health conditions.

As for future vaccines, Dr. Coming Hay says they’re expected, but it’s hard to know when.

“There’s talk about coming out with a new vaccine that’s more directed to the omicron variant but right now it’s sort of just talk. We don’t have a timeline on when new vaccines are coming out. The vaccination that we have right now is targeted toward the alpha variant and so you may know that there’s people out there who are getting vaccinations and then they are still getting infections. The good news is that they’re typically less severe and right now the goal is to decrease hospitalizations.” said. Dr. Coming Hay.

Dr. Coming Hay leaves with a note on why the vaccines remain important for many Native people’s health and values

“Native Americans are at an increased risk for severe illness and complications. Especially, unfortunately, there’s a lot of other conditions such as diabetes that do run rampant in our Native American populations, which puts people at even further risk. So I would just say, you know, to try to talk to your loved ones from a perspective of wanting to be helpful, wanting to protect our elders or people who may not be able to get their immunizations by themselves. We’re trying to protect a community.

Emma Needham reporting for the MN Native News Health Report

This week on the Health Report, hear why he got vaccinated. Feven Gerezgiher reports.