Print article For years, residents of the Southeast Alaska fishing town of Pelican decried cuts to state ferry service that left them increasingly isolated. Then came news of a deadly pandemic spread around the world by travelers. “Everybody claims that it’s so hard to get in and out of here. I say, that’s perfect,” said Walt Weller, Pelican’s mayor. “There is no better time to be stranded in the middle of nowhere.” A year into the pandemic, Pelican — reachable only by bush plane or boat — has zero recorded cases of COVID-19 and has vaccinated more than half its adults.