At least three large COVID-19 vaccination clinics will be held on the central peninsula throughout the month of February for eligible individuals who schedule appointments in advance.
The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services announced earlier this week that on Thursday more vaccine appointments would become available. Appointment demand has far exceeded vaccine supply nationwide and on the peninsula, with some clinics being fully booked within hours of appointments going live. Recent large-scale vaccination clinics saw hundreds of peninsula residents successfully vaccinated.
Two clinic sessions — held by Soldotna Professional Pharmacy — will be hosted at Beacon Occupational Health in Kenai on Feb. 6 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event will offer one vaccination clinic in the morning and one in the afternoon. Those vaccinated in the morning will receive Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine, while those vaccinated in the afternoon will receive Moderna’s. Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have efficacy rates of more than 95% and require two doses to be fully effective. The clinics are being offered in conjunction with the Kenai Fire Department. The clinics are open to those in Phase 1a and 1b Tier 1, which includes seniors 65 and older.
Soldotna Professional Pharmacy will hold a third clinic, hosted at Soldotna Prep, on Saturday, Feb. 13 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. The clinic will offer the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and is open to people in the Phase 1a and 1b Tier 1, which includes seniors 65 and older.
The City of Kenai is offering transportation to and from vaccine clinics located in Kenai in partnership with CARTS and Alaska Cab. The city council approved $5,000 for the program at its Jan. 20 meeting. Rides will be offered on a first-come first-served basis until the budgeted funds run out. In order to participate in the program, people must be going from an address located in Kenai to a clinic in Kenai and will need to provide proof of vaccination.
As of Thursday, people eligible to receive the vaccine included most health care workers and Alaskans over the age of 65. People can check their eligibility on the DHSS COVID vaccine website at covidvax.alaska.gov.
In total, the state has been allocated 174,400 vaccine doses for the months of December, January and February. Of the 114,800 doses Alaska had already received as of Thursday, 110,400 had been administered, though that number is expected to be higher due to a lag in reporting. According to the state’s COVID-19 vaccination dashboard, 5,501 people in the “Kenai Region” had received the COVID-19 vaccine and 1,457 had already received both doses. As of Tuesday, 87,707 Alaskans had received at least one dose of their COVID-19 vaccine, with 22,692 having already received both.
Daily case count update
The state on Thursday announced 184 new resident and nonresident COVID-19 cases in Alaska, including eight on the Kenai Peninsula. Affected peninsula communities include Homer with three cases, Kenai with two cases, Seward with two cases and Soldotna with one case.
The borough dropped from “high” to “intermediate” risk level on Thursday for the first time in months when its 14-day case rate dropped to 9.91. The state remains at high-risk level, with a 14-day case rate of 24.56.
As of Thursday, the borough’s seven-day COVID-19 test positivity rate had dropped to 1.06%, with 947 tests conducted in the last week. Statewide, 27,516 have been conducted over the past week, which saw a 2.87% positivity rate.
One new COVID death and one new hospitalization were reported on Thursday, bringing the state’s totals to date to 1,177 and 260, respectively. The individual who died was a North Pole woman in her 40s. As of Thursday, there were 42 people hospitalized in Alaska due to COVID-19, including one who was considered a person under investigation for the disease. Five of the patients were on ventilators.
In addition to the eight new cases on the peninsula, the state also reported 44 cases in Anchorage, 38 in Bethel Census Area, 19 in Fairbanks, 13 in Wasilla, eight in Bethel, six in Aleutians East Borough, six in Kusilvak Census Area, six in North Pole, five in Unalaska, four in Dillingham Census Area, four in Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, three in Eagle River, two in Ketchikan and one each in Big Lake, Chugiak, Cordova, Douglas, Fairbanks North Star Borough, Juneau, Kodiak, North Slope Borough, Sitka, Sutton-Alpine, Willow and Yakutat/Hoonah-Angoon.
Six nonresident cases were also reported. Two were reported in Unalaska. One was reported in Aleutians East Borough. One was reported in Anchorage and one was reported in Fairbanks.
Who can receive the COVID-19 vaccine right now?
In determining who is able to get the COVID vaccine and when, the state considers recommendations from the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Vaccine allocation is divided into three phases.
Those phases are divided into sub-phases. Those sub-phases are then divided further into tiers. Front-line health care workers, along with residents and staff of long-term care facilities were given first priority in Phase 1a, Tier 1.
Phase 1a, Tier 2 includes front-line EMS and Fire Service personnel frequently exposed to COVID-19 patients, community health aides/practitioners and health care workers providing vaccinations. Vaccinations for people in Phase 1a, Tiers 1 and 2 began on Dec. 15.
Phase 1a, Tier 3 includes workers in health care settings who are at highest risk of contracting COVID-19 and who are essential to the health care infrastructure who meet specific criteria outlined by the state. Vaccinations for people in Phase 1a, Tier 3 began on Jan. 4.
COVID-19 testing locations on the Kenai Peninsula
On the central peninsula, testing is available at Capstone Family Clinic, K-Beach Medical, Soldotna Professional Pharmacy, Central Peninsula Urgent Care, Peninsula Community Health Services, Urgent Care of Soldotna, the Kenai Public Health Center and Odyssey Family Practice. Call Kenai Public Health at 907-335-3400 for information on testing criteria for each location.
In Homer, testing is available from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily at the lower level of South Peninsula Hospital’s Specialty Clinic as well as through SVT Health & Wellness clinics in Homer, Seldovia and Anchor Point. Call ahead at the hospital at 907-235-0235 and at the SVT clinics at 907-226-2228.
In Ninilchik, NTC Community Clinic is providing testing on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The testing is only for those traveling, symptomatic, needing testing for medical procedures, or with a known exposure after seven days. Only 20 tests will be offered per day. To make an appointment to be tested at the NTC Community Clinic, call 907-567-3970.
In Seward, testing is available at Providence Seward, Seward Community Health Center, Glacier Family Medicine and North Star Health Clinic.
Reach reporter Ashlyn O’Hara at ashlyn.ohara@peninsulaclarion.com.
