The COVID-19 vaccination process has progressed rapidly in the region — at least 1,200 people have gotten the first dose already. But the state doesn't expect to expand eligibility in February, and that will stall some communities.
Dillingham public health nurse Gina Carpenter had just finished a house call Tuesday to administer a COVID-19 vaccine.
“As of right this minute, we’ve given 174 doses, and we are really trying to reach the rest of the population that’s age 65 and older," she said. "We would just love if anybody knows family or friends or neighbors that are eligible to have them give us a call at the health center. We are doing home visits for folks who can’t make it into the health center.”
More than 1,200 people in the region have received the first dose of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine so far — roughly a fifth of the population. That's between the Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation, public health in Dillingham and the Camai Community Health Center in the Bristol Bay Borough.
Southcentral Foundation, which operates in communities around Lake Iliamna, did not returned a request for an update as of Wednesday afternoon.
Across the state, 85,500 people have received the first dose of the vaccine — around 11% of the state's population — and 21,100 people have received two doses.
The state announced Tuesday it received 41,100 vaccines for February, and Indian Health Service facilities received 18,500.
The number of vaccines the state distributes to communities is based on population.
Mary Swain is the director of the Camai Community Health Center in the Bristol Bay Borough, which received 50 vaccines for February. The clinic has administered more than 130 doses of vaccine so far.
“The hindrance will only be at play if they do open an additional tier within the phase that we’re in currently," she said. "But we will be fine with that allocation if they keep the phases and tiers the same through the month of February.”
The vaccine is currently available to people age 65 and older, health care workers and people in long term care facilities. The state doesn't expect to expand eligibility in the coming weeks.
“They said the earliest that they anticipate opening any additional tiers would be late February, first part of March," she said. "So, unfortunately, that is not good for our community but we will do what we can.”
Swain said they can continue to vaccinate teachers in the borough but won’t be able to vaccinate additional essential workers.
The Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation has administered more than 950 doses of the vaccine — they say that’s about 15% of the region.
“We are remarkably higher than the general state population," said Bernina Venua, the health corporation’s incident commander for its COVID-19 task force.
The health corporation receives allocations from both the Indian Health Service and the state. BBAHC declined to give their February allocation numbers.
“Currently, BBAHC does not foresee any delay in vaccine delivery for residents in our service area," Venua said. "So we will try to continue and push as much as we can for eligible participants or people who would like to receive the vaccine.”
The health corporation holds vaccine clinics at Kanakanak Hospital in Dillingham every Saturday to offer both the first and second doses of the vaccine to eligible individuals.
Anyone in the region can sign up for the health corporation’s vaccination waitlist. In Dillingham you can do so by calling the hospital by calling 907-842-9440. In other communities, people can sign up by calling their local health clinic.
Venua said people on the waitlist will be contacted as additional vaccine doses become available.
“It is nice to have additional people that we can call in case we do have those extras. Because we would like to ensure that we do not waste any doses," she said. "Some people may not fit in one of the priority lists, but that doesn’t mean we won’t vaccinate you according to the availability of the vaccine.”
Venua said the health corporation is working to distribute the vaccine more widely to communities throughout the region. She says winter travel has been a challenge, but they’ve been able to reach their destinations — eventually.
The health corporation has vaccination trips planned through the first week of February.
Contact the author at isabelle@kdlg.org or 907-842-2200.
