A little poke in the arm and you re done December 31st, 2020 |
The doses manufactured by drug company Moderna touched down around 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 22, on a Ravn Alaska flight from Anchorage; they were rushed immediately to the island s clinic, and within a few hours, the first Unalaskans had received their shots.
A group of frontline medical providers and emergency responders stood 6 feet apart in the after hours area of the Iliuliuk Family and Health Services clinic. Some were waiting to be injected with the vaccine, while others were waiting to see if they had an allergic reaction before leaving the building.
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A group of frontline medical providers and emergency responders stood six feet apart in the after hours area of the Iliuliuk Family and Health Services clinic. Some were waiting to be injected with the vaccine, while others were waiting to see if they had an allergic reaction before leaving the building. The injection feels the same as any other vaccine, said Dr. Meg Sarnecki, one of 20 people to get the shot Tuesday afternoon, just hours after it arrived. A little poke in the arm and you re done. We watch you for 15 minutes, if you have any history of anaphylaxis or severe allergies, we ll be watching you for 30 minutes, and that s it, easy.
Credit Berett Wilber/KUCB
Unalaska students and staff began their holiday break Monday and are scheduled to begin the new semester on Jan. 4. But what that semester will look like and whether or not students will return to their classrooms next month is still undecided.
After the City of Unalaska moved into the high coronavirus risk threshold in late November due to potential widespread exposure of the community to the virus, school staff began home-based instruction and the district closed to the public.
Meanwhile, in accordance with the district s updated Smart Start 2020 plan, a limited number of students, such as those with special learning needs who are on individualized education plans, were allowed in the schools.
Credit Courtesy of Tacho
After the first shipment of COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Anchorage late Sunday, Unalaska officials said Monday that they re still awaiting word of when the first batches will reach their island community. We have not yet heard from the state on when Unalaska can expect to receive our supplies, said Melanee Tiura, chief executive of Iliuliuk Family and Health Services, the island s clinic.
When the vaccine arrives, Tiura said the first doses will go to frontline health care workers, medics and elders at Unalaska s senior center, per state guidelines. We probably will have a lot more latitude as the supplies become more available to prioritize within our population, she said.