Credit Calista Corporation
The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation recommended that all villages in the region extend their community lockdowns for an additional 30 days, until Jan. 16, 2021.
The health corporation initially recommended a month-long, region-wide lockdown on Nov. 16 to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Most communities did so. During that time transmission rates have dropped slightly, but the region still maintains the highest coronavirus case rates in the state, and some of the highest rates in the country. Also, the Bethel hospital continues admitting COVID-19 patients and medevacing critically ill patients to larger hospitals.
COVID-19 vaccinations began in Bethel on Dec. 17 for Elder’s home residents and regional health care workers, but the vaccine is not expected to be available to the general public for months. For now, the main tools to contain the virus’ spread remain wearing masks and avoiding gatherings. The lockdown recommendation comes as the holida
Credit Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation is hosting two virtual Q&A sessions for the public to learn more about the coronavirus vaccines coming to the region. Both sessions will occur next week, on Monday, Dec. 21 and Tuesday, Dec. 22.
The Dec. 21 event is a virtual townhall with health officials from YKHC, National Institutes of Health, and Indian Health Service. It will stream on Zoom and Facebook from 1 to 2 p.m., and air live on KYUK 640 AM. You can submit your questions over Zoom or Facebook during the event. Find the registration link here.
Panelists for the Dec. 21 event:
Hear the radio version of this story.
Standing in the terminal, the plane is running slightly behind schedule. Passengers are wearing their masks and lined up, not quite 6 feet apart, to board the plane once it’s unloaded. One of those passengers is Connie Sankwich. She said that she’s ready to take the vaccine as soon as possible.
“I’m a cancer survivor, and I have complications as a result of chemo,” Sankwich said. “In fact, I’m going in for a doctor’s appointment tonight.”
Further down the line, another passenger, Chris Aparicio, is also ready to take the vaccine.
Credit Jeff Chen / Alaska Public Media
The region’s first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine arrived in Bethel on Dec. 16, and vaccinations will begin on Dec. 17.
The first vaccine landed in Bethel on the afternoon jet. Pfizer sent the shipment to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation through UPS, according to YKHC spokesperson Tiffany Zulkosky. The health corporation expects to receive two more packages of the vaccine on the evening jet. These additional vaccines come from the state through an Indian Health Service allocation. In total, YKHC expects to receive 2,925 doses of the Pfizer vaccine on Dec. 16.
The health corporation is using an ultra-cold freezer borrowed from the UAF Kuskokwim Campus to store the vaccine at the required temperature of -94 degrees Fahrenheit.
Credit Katie Basile / KYUK
It was a welcome surprise when the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation received nearly three times as many COVID-19 vaccine doses as it had expected.
On Dec. 16, YKHC received a shipment of 2,925 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine from the State of Alaska and the Indian Health Service. As of Dec. 11, the health corporation had been expecting just 1,000 doses in its initial allocation. This will speed up plans for distribution of the vaccine.
On Dec. 17, YKHC began COVID-19 vaccinations of frontline health care workers in Bethel, as well as residents and staff of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Elder’s Home in Bethel. On Dec. 18, YKHC will charter flights to begin vaccinating village-based health care workers. These flights, as part of Operation Togo, will continue into the following week. Over the next few weeks, YKHC will vaccinate all eligible health care workers in the Y-K Delta.