As groups clamor for vaccine, here’s how Alaska will decide who’s next in line Author: Nathaniel Herz, Alaska Public Media Updated: December 23, 2020 Published December 23, 2020
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Print article The vaccines from drug companies Pfizer and Moderna are being hailed as a game-changing weapon in the fight against COVID-19, which has killed more than 180 Alaskans and infected tens of thousands more. But for the next several months, there will be far fewer vaccine doses available than people who want to receive them. And that presents the difficult question of who should get the shots first. GOP Gov. Mike Dunleavy has the ultimate authority to decide, according to officials from his administration. But so far, the state has been heeding recommendations from a new advisory committee largely made up of health care providers, saying they’re best-suited to consider the science and data around the vaccine.
Print article The largest Alaska outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic so far is unfolding right now, within the walls of a prison in the Mat-Su Borough. At Goose Creek Correctional Center, 708 inmates had active coronavirus infections as of Monday. Other jails face worsening outbreaks, too: 112 inmates at the Anchorage Correctional Complex and 68 in Yukon-Kuskokwim Correctional Center have the virus. Statewide, 19 incarcerated people have been hospitalized during the pandemic. Three have died. With a limited supply of vaccines now arriving, a debate over when incarcerated people should receive the vaccine is playing out across the country and in Alaska. The question: Should prisoners be seen as a vulnerable population living in a congregate setting and given priority access to the vaccine?