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Health care providers optimistic as COVID-19 vaccinations continue in Iliamna, Bristol Bay Borough

Courtesy of Dustin Parker

COVID-19 vaccinations for frontline workers in Bristol Bay are going smoothly so far. Moving forward, providers are considering tricky logistics as they plan to get the vaccine to more rural communities.

There are two ways the vaccines are being distributed throughout the region: by bringing the person to the vaccine, or by taking the vaccine to the person.

Around Iliamna Lake, it’s the former. All the clinic workers in the area are flying to the Nilavena Clinic in Iliamna to receive the vaccine. Nilavena, which is the area's hub clinic, received 100 doses of the Moderna vaccine last week and started administering it to employees.

Credit Courtesy of Dustin Parker
Amanda Bybee, CHP/Igiugig, receives the first dose of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine from Suzanne Milette, PA-C. Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020.

“Everyone’s doing well, everyone’s very excited," said Dustin Parker, the manager for the Southcentral Foundation’s Iliamna Lake region. "All of our employees in the Iliamna Lake region that serve these seven communities have all agreed, voluntarily, to receive the vaccine."

Parker said they are staggering vaccine distribution among healthcare workers in case of any serious reactions, which are rare and easily treatable. By the end of next week, all of the foundation’s employees in the area will have received the vaccine's first dose.

If you live in Southcentral's rural service area, Parker said, you will most likely receive the Moderna vaccine.

“The State of Alaska has pretty much determined that mostly the Moderna vaccine is going to go out to all of our rural areas,” he explained.

That’s because the Pfizer vaccine must be deep-frozen at minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit, and many smaller clinics don’t have that capability. The Moderna vaccine, on the other hand, can be frozen in a regular freezer. Moderna requires two doses, 28 days apart. Clinical trials showed that the Moderna vaccine is 94% effective at preventing COVID-19.

As the state moves through its vaccination plan and more people become eligible to receive the vaccine, Southcentral plans to set up vaccination clinics in villages around the region. The viles will remain frozen until they’re needed.

Here's how it will work: The communities will tell the foundation how many people are set to get vaccinated. Southcentral will need to consider weather and timing when organizing the clinics; once the needle is injected into the top of the Moderna vial, the vaccine must be used within six hours.

“In Igiugig, for instance, they’ll say, ‘Hey, we have 10 people that can receive this vaccine,’" Parker explained. "We’ll look at the weather, and we’ll plan on flying the vaccine over to Igiugig. The vaccine will be thawing in transit. Then once the health aides inject the vial, they will need to make sure that all 10 people on their list receive the vaccine.”

Over to the west, in the Bristol Bay Borough, 11 frontline health care workers and half of the EMS fire fighters received the Moderna vaccine at the Camai Community Health Center last week.

Eleven more people will be vaccinated this week. The clinic is staggering vaccine distribution in case anyone has a serious reaction, according to Camai Director Mary Swain.

The state ordered the first round of vaccines. Camai will order the second doses in this round next week, and it will order all subsequent rounds through the state site VacTrAK, which is the same way it orders the flu vaccine. Because the state uses VacTrAK to record all vaccinations given in Alaska, people who get vaccinated in the Bristol Bay Borough need to be fully registered with the clinic.

Phase 1A, Tier 1 and 2 are currently open. Tier 1 includes frontline healthcare workers and long term care facility staff members and residents. In Tier 2, community health aides, fire service workers, and EMS workers can receive the vaccine.

For those in South Naknek, Swain said the clinic will likely consider each person’s health and risk factors to determine whether they will fly them to the clinic or administer it in the village.

“The concern we have with flying over there is, if there is a reaction then that takes two legs to get them anywhere to a medical hospital. For those of them willing to fly over here, that would be ideal for us.”

For now, the clinic is waiting for the state to announce further guidance on who will receive the next vaccinations.

Contact the author at isabelle@kdlg.org or 907-842-2200.

Izzy Ross is the news director at KDLG, the NPR member station in Dillingham. She reports, edits, and hosts stories from around the Bristol Bay region, and collaborates with other radio stations across the state.