Today
Snow this evening will taper off to light snow late. Low 12F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 70%. Snow accumulating 1 to 3 inches..
Tonight
Snow this evening will taper off to light snow late. Low 12F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 70%. Snow accumulating 1 to 3 inches. Updated: April 2, 2021 @ 7:40 pm
First responders, healthcare workers, elders receive first COVID-19 vaccines in Haines
Ceri Godinez
Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) vice president of clinics Eric Gettis debarks Allen Marine boat, Melinda Leigh, with roughly 100 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. SEARHC chartered the vessel to get the first doses of the vaccine to Haines on Dec. 18 after winter weather prevented them from being flown in the previous day.
In the past week, more than 100 Chilkat Valley residents received the first of two shots required for Pfizer s COVID-19 vaccine.
On Friday, Dec. 18 at 10 a.m., roughly 100 doses of the vaccine arrived on an Allen Marine boat chartered by the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) after weather prevented the vaccine from being flown in the previous day.
Vaccine expected late this month in Bristol Bay December 24th, 2020 |
From Ketchikan to Kotzebue, communities across the state began to administer their first doses of coronavirus vaccine this week.
But Bristol Bay will have to wait at least another week for its first dose, while health care providers grapple with the logistical challenges of getting the vaccine to rural areas.
Bernina Venua, the incident commander for the Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation s COVID-19 task force, said the corporation plans to start administering the vaccine in the last week of December. Currently we are in Phase 1A. And that means that it is only for frontline health care workers, she said.
In the Y-K Delta, frontline health workers and the residents and staff at the Yukon-Kuskokwim Elder’s home were the first to receive COVID-19 vaccines. This involved chartering planes to fly doses to villages, and vaccinating health aides on vilage runways. YKHC Chief of Staff Dr. Ellen Hodges said that phase 1a of the vaccinations would be complete by Dec. 23.
“We just received this vaccine six days ago, and we have been able to vaccinate over 180 healthcare providers in 37 different villages. And it s just to me, when I think about this, is an astonishing accomplishment,” Hodges said.
With both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines coming to market in under a year, some may be concerned about safety. Dr. Larry Corey, Co-Director of the Fred Hutchinson COVID-19 Prevention Network, said that government funding helped develop and test the vaccines in such a short period of time, but he said that no corners were cut in the approval process.
COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card Photo courtesy CDC
Mayor Dial is requesting the Assembly to support his proposed resolution which calls on merchants and service providers to refrain from discriminating against any individual by denying that person access to goods or services based upon their COVID-19 vaccination status or failure to provide that information.
According to the CDC, individuals should receive a wallet-sized vaccination card or printout that tells the specific COVID-19 vaccine they received, the date they received it, and where they received it. The CDC is not recommending or requiring that vaccination cards be presented publicly on demand for access to services.