. >> reporter: nurse lyle lee drove nearly an hour to give the first dose. >> let it hang down. >> reporter: mckinley county, new mexico, borders the navajo nation and is made up of more than 70% native americans. in september of 2021, mckinley county ranked first in the state and sixth nationally for covid deaths per capita. several of jamie barboan's family caught covid, including her mother, yvonne tolth. >> one of my sons, he passed. he spent a month and a half in the hospital, and he fought it, but didn't come home. >> reporter: how hard was that for you, yvonne? >> hard. i would get mad. daughter just stood by me and my other kids. >> reporter: the navajo nation's high death toll lead tribe officials to spread the word about the importance of vaccines any way they could, and the moment they got their first batch, leaders split their efforts between massive sites like this one, and meeting people out in their own communities. >> so we look at essential businesses, essential workers. >> reporter: the tribe's chief medical officer, dr. loretta christensen, says their efforts have led to