Numerous sectors and industry groups, including professors, are asking state officials to increase their eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine, even when it became clear that Alaska’s allocation for the month is almost exhausted.
During a hearing on Monday, several educators and the president of the teachers union in Anchorage urged the state’s vaccine allocation committee to place teachers in an “immediate” vaccine situation before personal learning begins for K-2 and special education classes up to the sixth grade in Anchorage School District in about a week.
Representatives of the state’s road and maritime transport industries also asked to be increased. Warehouses and truck drivers in the Lower 48 are seeing 20 to 25 percent reductions in the workforce due to the effects of the virus, Matson’s vice president, Bal Dreyfus, told the committee during the hearing, held remotely via Zoom.
“That would have a big impact on the supply chain in Alaska,” said Dreyfus.
But a provider begged the state not to add any more groups until more vaccine is available.
Mat-Su Health Services, a community health organization, was forced to hire temporary staff and work 60 hours a week to follow up on calls, some of them in tears because they lack internet or computer skills, Victoria Knapp program coordinator testified, calling the launch a disaster.
“For the state to open another group soon, we will withdraw from the program,” said Knapp.
The state’s vaccination program began in mid-December with staff from hospitals and long-term care centers on the front lines. It expanded to include other health professionals.
The implementation hit a series of public hurdles after the state opened up eligibility for Alaska 65 and several weeks ahead of schedule, due to slower-than-expected interest from some health professionals.
Authorities say they knew they did not have enough doses to vaccinate the nearly 90,000 Alaskan people in the older age group, but wanted to make sure that nothing was wasted.
It may take a month and a half just to vaccinate the group of 65 or older.
The next approved group includes inmates, correctional officers and homeless shelter residents, as well as “essential frontline workers” 50 and older, including teachers, emergency responders and seafood industry workers.
The state’s vaccine allocation advisory committee held Monday’s hearing to receive comments on the next level after that. The state is proposing that this category include people between 16 and 49 years old with high-risk medical conditions, as well as any additional essential workers.
A previous committee meeting in late December drew more than 500 comments. Since then, the state has received more than 500 additional comments.
More than 20 people signed up to provide live commentary on Monday afternoon, including people representing employees and volunteers at elderly centers and people with developmental disabilities who do not live in homes, where the vaccine is already available.
There have also been requests to prioritize electric utilities, people with type 1 diabetes and library staff, and to correct the next level to include University of Alaska instructors, staff and student teachers, as well as students in homes and employees at the Fairbanks plant. of the University of Alaska.
Alaskan health officials say the state ranks fourth in the country in vaccination per capita, but still has “incredibly limited” amounts of vaccine.
Alaska received a total of 114,800 doses of the vaccine from the federal government in December and January: 62,400 doses manufactured by Pfizer, which require deep-frozen storage, and 52,4000 doses manufactured by Moderna Inc. This does not include quotas from military and federal veterans.
Almost all of these doses have already been announced – before the month is even half over, health officials said during an interview on Monday.
“We allocated more or less our entire January vaccine,” said Tessa Walker Linderman, state co-leader of the Alaska vaccination task force.
Basically, the authorities say, there is currently not enough vaccine for everyone, although they are hiring more and more providers who want to deliver the vaccines.
This does not mean that vaccines are no longer being administered, officials say. Some are reserved for long-term care centers and some are for communities that have not yet been able to receive them due to bad weather.
Some are also destined for large-scale vaccine clinics, which has not yet happened. An ongoing clinic at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage ends on Tuesday, when another is scheduled to start at Mat-Su, at the Alaska State Fairgrounds. Other clinics are planned for Juneau, Fairbanks and Homer.
A state panel showed that just over 29,000 people received the first of two doses needed to be vaccinated against the virus that killed more than 220 Alaskans, most of them over 60. Officials warn that the panel’s data is delayed in real time and more shots were actually given.
The vaccine allocation advisory committee meets on Tuesday and will review comments submitted before and during Monday’s hearing before making recommendations.
State officials have asked for patience with a process that they recognize could have been greatly improved.
Dr. Anne Zink, the state medical officer, said the authorities still did not know how much vaccine they could receive in February.
Federal officials said they could send additional supplies at any time. President-elect Joe Biden said last week that he plans to launch most of the available doses of the coronavirus vaccine.
But given the delicate storage requirements and other complications of distributing the vaccine, Zink said he does not expect the situation to change suddenly on January 20, when Biden takes office.
“We just don’t have a lot of vaccine in the state,” she said, in response to teachers’ requests. “I would like to have more and we would love to get it out as soon as possible.”
For more information about vaccines, the public can go to covidvax.alaska.gov or call 907-646-3322 and leave a message. Officials say calls should be returned in one day, although some users report much longer waits than that.