The confusion surrounding the launch of the COVID-19 vaccine in Alaska has prompted some Alaskans to try to schedule vaccination appointments before they are eligible to receive the vaccine, state health officials said on Saturday.
Tessa Walker Linderman, who helps lead the state’s vaccination effort, and Dr. Anne Zink, Alaska’s medical director, said in an interview that they heard of cases of older Alaskans trying to make appointments over the weekend through from the state website, even though they are not yet eligible.
Although Alaskans aged 65 and over are the next group eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccination, most will have to wait at least a few weeks to register for a consultation, the two state health officials clarified.
“There were definitely a lot of communication problems on that specific topic, with a lot of email chains being sent to a lot of seniors that we weren’t a part of,” said Zink. “We are trying to help clarify that.”
On Thursday, the state announced the schedule for the next rounds of vaccination (Phase 1B), with adults 65 and over at the top of the list, followed by some essential workers with public jobs along with those living in congregated environments like prisons and shelters.
But that announcement came weeks before the real vaccines would take place.
The fact is that the state is now in the process of scheduling appointments for health professionals in “Phase 1A level three”, a large group of about 40,000 people that will likely take at least the rest of the month to vaccinate.
Walker Linderman believes the timing of the announcement was probably confusing for the elderly who heard they would be the next to receive the vaccine almost a month before they started receiving vaccines.
“I think it may have been an unfortunate time that we were launching the real vaccination of (Phase 1A) layer three at the same time that we announced the subsequent layers of Phase 1B, so I think that could be part of the confusion,” Walker Linderman said.
She thinks that people who knew they were eligible for Phase 1B probably accessed the state’s website and saw that consultations were being scheduled.
“And although it says clearly on our website that this is only for Phase 1A healthcare professionals, people may not have seen it and just made an appointment,” she said.
Part of this is a problem with the site: after clicking on the shareable link that allows you to find a provider to schedule an appointment, there is no mention of eligibility and the limits of who can make an appointment.
Walker Linderman said he heard from many clinics in the past few days that they are doing follow-up in response to appointments to make sure online registrants are health professionals who meet all criteria for Phase 1A level three.
“We are working on our website to clarify this and I know that our (vaccine distributors) are also there,” she said.
In addition to the complicated message, some regions of the state have already managed to start vaccinating their elderly people with vaccine doses separate from the state allocation.
This is because the Indigenous Health Service, the Department of Transportation and Veterans Affairs do not need to adhere strictly to the state’s levels and levels in their vaccine allocations.
As a general rule, however, elderly Alaska people without tribal affiliations who do not live in a long-term care facility will need to wait to make an appointment.
State health officials said they are still in the process of figuring out the best way for seniors and others in Phase 1B to apply for vaccination when it is their turn, especially since it is such a large group: there are more than 90,000 people from Alaska above the age of 65.
“It will be that same link – accessing our website will still be an option to schedule this consultation,” said Walker Linderman. “But there may be additional options as well.”
It may be possible for Alaskans to go to their regular health care providers or to a community center center, she said. The plan for the implementation of Phase 1B is still being worked out, and the best way to keep up to date is to continue checking the state’s vaccines website at covidvax.alaska.gov.
“We urge Alaskans to really pay attention to where we are and what level we are getting at,” said Zink.
But she said the elderly and others don’t have to worry about missing out on the chance of being vaccinated, even if they aren’t checking the state’s website for updates every day.
“We will continue to fill these other layers as we go,” she said. “So, even if we move to level two, if someone older decides they want to be vaccinated, they can be vaccinated whenever they want.”
Phase 1A, level one (available from December 15):
• Long-term care team members
• Residents of long-term care facilities
• Frontline health professionals based in hospitals and hospital staff who are often exposed to COVID-19 patients, particularly those who perform high-risk procedures or who spend long periods of time beside the bed and whose absence from work would compromise the hospital’s ability to continue functioning.
Phase IA, level two (available from 15 December)
• Front-line EMS and fire service personnel who provide medical services, often exposed to patients with COVID-19 and whose absence from work would compromise the continuity of these essential medical services.
• Assistants / community health professionals
• Health professionals proving vaccinations for populations identified in Phase 1A
Phase 1A, level three (available to schedule appointments from December 30, vaccine clinics available from January 4)
• Workers in healthcare facilities most at risk of contracting COVID-19 who are essential to healthcare infrastructure and who regularly provide healthcare services that cannot be postponed or provided remotely.
They must meet the following criteria:
1. Have direct contact with the patient or have direct contact with patients’ infectious materials; and,
2. Provide essential services in a healthcare environment that cannot be offered remotely or carried out via teleworking; and,
3. Provide a service in a health setting that cannot be postponed without detrimental impact on the patient’s short or long term health outcomes.
Phase 1B, level one (probably available in late January, TBA vaccine clinics)
Phase 1B, level two (probably available at the end of February, TBA vaccine clinics)
• Essential frontline workers * who are 50 or older
• People who live or work in other congregated environments not covered in Phase 1A
Phase 1B, level three (TBA vaccination schedule)
• 55 to 64 year olds
• All people aged 16 and over who live in “unattended communities”
• Essential frontline workers * 16-50 years old with two or more high-risk health conditions
Phase 1B, level four (TBA vaccination schedule)
• People aged 50 or over with two or more high-risk health conditions
• Essential frontline workers * 16-50 years of age not covered in layers one through three
* The state defines essential frontline workers as “people who work in sectors essential to the functioning of society and are at substantially greater risk of exposure to the virus because their work-related tasks must be carried out on the spot and involve being in proximity ( within six feet) of the public or coworkers. ”