Alaskans 65 and older will be the next group eligible for early doses of the coronavirus vaccine, state health officials announced Thursday.
Once the majority of elderly people who want vaccines can access it, prisoners, correctional officers and residents of homeless shelters, as well as “essential workers” 50 years and older – including teachers, emergencies and seafood industry. workers whose work is performed on the spot and in the vicinity of the public or employees.
After that, according to a list released Thursday by the Department of Health and Social Services in Alaska, the next group of Alaskans will be between 55 and 64 years old, those living in rural communities where there is limited access to running water and sanitation is, and essential workers at the front with publicly confronted jobs that are between 16 and 50 years old and that have two or more health risks.
A fourth phase will include people 50 and older who have two or more high-risk health conditions and all other essential workers who face between 16 and 50 years.
[Read the full “Phase 1B” guidelines here.]
The state’s decision to prioritize the elderly over vaccinations over many non-health care frontline workers place Alaska in a small group of states that have deviated from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines that place essential frontline workers in the same group as 75 and older, and before 65 and older.
Dr. Anne Zink, the state’s medical chief, said Thursday that Alaska officials have made this priority decision because most of the state’s oldest residents are cared for at home instead of in nursing homes or relief facilities, which means that while other states already have many vaccinated in this group, Alaska did not.
“It was an attempt to reach the high-risk group in general,” she said.
Elderly people also make up the vast majority of deaths and hospitalizations from the state’s virus – related condition.
It was not immediately clear when the next phase of vaccinations would begin. Zinc did not immediately announce a timeline, but said seniors are likely to start vaccinations in late January or early February.
There are about 90,000 Alaskans over the age of 65, Zink said – a relatively large group that is likely to take at least the entire February to get through. However, many elderly people in long-term care institutions have already been vaccinated.
And many tribal health organizations have also already started vaccinating their elders: the state has no say in the vaccine granted by the Indian Health Service, so officials can move faster and prioritize differently.
The state’s current plan is to work through the first group (seniors) as quickly as possible, and then move one by one through the next levels, Zink said.
She said this does not mean that every person aged 65 and older should be vaccinated before the next group can start.
“Once the first one does not start fulfilling appointments and then slows down, the second level opens up,” she said.
The same process will follow for the additional levels that make up Phase 1B, she said.
She said it is difficult to estimate how long it will move through the whole phase, but it will probably take a few months. ‘
“Phase 1B is pretty big,” Zink said. “It will take a while.”
She added that the current plan could change if necessary. The state advisory committee will meet again next month to determine who is eligible for the vaccine, including essential workers who do not work close to each other or the public.
The first groups in Alaska to be eligible for vaccination in December were hospital-based health care workers, residents and staff at long-term care facilities, emergency personnel, community caregivers, and people undergoing vaccinations that are currently eligible.
From 4 January, another level of people in the first phase of the state will start receiving vaccines. The group includes people who work in health care institutions who are at the greatest risk of getting COVID-19, which is considered essential for the health care system and does regular work that cannot be postponed or done remotely.
Alaska received more than 60,000 doses in December. Officials said this week that they expect another 52,900 next month. So far, 13,772 people have been vaccinated – less than a quarter of the state’s initial allocation.
Asked why it takes so long to export the vaccine at Alaskans, Zink said it was a matter of logistics: strict temperature restrictions for the vaccines, without knowing what the numbers of the state would be or what day the deliveries would arrive by the last minute, and would have to build up an answer very quickly.
“It’s taking longer than I expected or hoped,” she said. “Our team is working incredibly hard to overcome those challenges.”
Daily News reporter Zaz Hollander contributed.
[Read the state’s latest allocation plan below:]