. >> reporter: nurse lyle lee drove nearly an hour to give 72-year-old jonah johnson the first dose. >> there you go. right there. go ahead. let it hang down. good job. >> reporter: johnson was willing to take the vaccine but refused to leave his rural home. >> it's very important for us to do these types of visits, you know, and just respecting their choice. >> reporter: mckinley county, new mexico, borders the navajo nation and is made up of more than 70% native americans. in september of 2020, this county ranked first in the state and sixth nationally for covid deaths per capita. >> at first we didn't really have our guard up. but once it hit within our family, that's when reality hit. >> reporter: reality struck quickly for jamie's family. her mother got covid-19 first. >> one of my sons, he passed. he spent like a month and a half in the hospital, and he fought it but didn't come home. >> reporter: how hard was that for you? >> hard. i would get mad and just cried a lot. and my daughter just stood by me and my other kids. >> reporter: the high death toll led tribe officials to s