Alaska’s Department of Health and Social Services held a Monday virtual meeting to take public comments about phase 1B of the state’s vaccine distribution plan. Phase 1B includes those aged 75 and older and front-line essential workers.
Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Anne Zink, offered an overview of where Alaska’s vaccination effort stands now, and where it is headed: “The goal is to try to get out vaccine as quickly as possible to those who need it as well as those who want it, with an emphasis on trying to look at the science, the data, decreasing the morbidity, mortality, or death-and-illness associated with COVID-19, as well as systems of function not working, such as like hospital systems. We use a series of guidance to take a look at this, and the biggest thing that I’d recommend is taking a look at the ACIP recommendations, and this is the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, which guides the Centers for disease Control. They have multiple phases, including Phase 1A, 1B, 2, and 3. Our advisory committee within that works to try to figure out how to implement that and how to move forward.”
She delved a bit further into the current state of motion within the Vaccine Task Force: “Currently, we are vaccinating Tier 1 and Tier 2, within Phase 1A, and we’re just beginning the process for Tier 3 within Phase 1A. We are working on what looks like Phase 1B, right now. On December 20, the ACIP met regarding who should be in Phase 1B as well as 1C for the COVID-19 vaccination. What they recommended is that 1B should be people over 75 years of age, front-line essential workers. In 1C, they recommended persons between 65 and 74 years of age, persons aged between 16 to 64 with high-risk medical conditions, and other essential workers.”
Tessa Walker Linderman and Eliza Muse, both of the Department of Health and Social Services, each re-emphasized the plans for the Vaccine Task Force. They noted that public comments that were accepted this week will be factored into recommendations for the next phase of Alaska’s vaccine stage on December 30.
This was the second public comment session of this nature for the Alaska Vaccine Task Force, with another scheduled to be held on January 11.