Alaska’s Herculean vaccine distribution effort this month evokes the historic “serum run” nearly 100 years ago that saved the town of Nome from a diphtheria epidemic and inspired the Iditarod sled dog race.
But this year, instead of driving dog sleds, the state used planes, amphibious vehicles and snowmobiles to make Alaska one of the most successful states so far at getting the COVID-19 vaccine into the arms of its residents. Mountainous terrain and wintry weather further complicated the effort.
“On my first airplane trip, the vaccine froze in the metal part of the needle when I was vaccinating on the tarmac and I had to keep it warm by tucking it between my coat and my shirt until right before we gave the vaccine,” said Dr. Ellen Hodges, Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation chief of staff, in an email.
Sleds, snowmobiles and planes: How COVID-19 vaccines are distributed in rural Alaska
Far beyond the reaches of the nearest connecting roads, villages of rural Alaska are only accessible by small aircraft or boat. But there are few latitudes too challenging for frontline workers like Dr. Katrine Bengaard, who are working to distribute the coronavirus vaccines to state residents. People in rural Alaska are vulnerable just like anybody in rural America, Bengaard told CBS News Nancy Chen.
Bengaard and her team from the Maniilaq Association cover northwest Alaska, traveling hundreds of miles a day, including on sleds pulled by snowmobiles. One of her latest coronavirus vaccine runs required her to take a plane.
BETHEL (AP) â Residents of an Alaska village met with health officials and government agencies to consider methods to restore running water after a fire destroyed the community s water plant.
The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation has provided bottled water and hand sanitizer to residents of Tuluksak since the community s water plant and laundromat burned Jan. 16.
Alaska State Troopers said the fire burned as residents of the Alaska Native community northeast of Bethel unsuccessfully tried to douse the flames with water hauled from the Tuluksak River.
Health corporation President Dan Winkelman said in a statement that everything possible will be done to help restore Tuluksak s water service.
Credit Katie Basile / KYUK
The Lower Kuskokwim School District school board will be meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 27, for the first time this semester.
At the beginning of the meeting, the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation will report on the COVID-19 situation in the region. On Jan. 13, YKHC sent an advisory to school districts saying that it would only recommend some in-person classes when all COVID-19 cases in a community could be linked to travel. The health corporation said that it would also need to see very low case rates and test positivity rates before it would recommend students return to school.
An online petition requesting that LKSD immediately return to in-person classes in Bethel for two days of the week is circulating on Facebook. Over 120 people have signed the petition, which calls on parents to attend tonight’s board meeting to voice their opinions.