Vaccine expected late this month in Bristol Bay December 24th, 2020 |
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 health care 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 health care workers, she said.
I think that s.going to help our community transition from this time of fearfulness and uncertainty to a time of celebration that we will finally be able to get our lives back to normalcy,” said Mary Swain, executive director of the Camai Community Health Center in Naknek.
Iliamna s first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines. Shannon Jonson, left, is with the Southcentral Foundation and Tim Laporte is with Iliamna Air Taxi. Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2020.
Credit Angel Miller
Bristol Bay will start vaccinating people against COVID-19 Wednesday. Health clinics in Iliamna and the Bristol Bay Borough are set to start administering the first Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.
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.
Five new COVID-19 cases reported in Dillingham area December 17th, 2020 |
Five people tested positive for COVID-19 in the Dillingham area between Dec. 6 and Dec. 8. That s according to the Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation, which announced the cases on Dec. 9.
One of the people who tested positive is a Dillingham resident. That case is travel-related.
The four others are residents of another community. They were close contacts of a previous case. All household members have been notified and are in quarantine.
BBAHC also said that it is working on a distribution plan for the COVID-19 vaccine once it becomes available.
In Dillingham, testing is available from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. daily at the Capstone clinic by the Dillingham airport.