5:02
From Ketchikan to Kotzebue, communities across the state began to administer their first doses of coronavirus vaccine this week.
But Bristol Bay will have to wait at least another week for its first dose, while healthcare providers grapple with the logistical challenges of getting the vaccine to rural areas.
Bernina Venua, the incident commander for the Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation’s COVID-19 task force, said the corporation plans to start administering the vaccine in the last week of December.
“Currently we are in Phase 1A. And that means that it is only for frontline healthcare workers,” she said.
The state’s Vaccine Allocation Committee will distribute the vaccine in phases. The first round includes hospital-based healthcare workers; community health aides and practitioners; EMS workers and long term care residents and staff.