In a move that speeds up the availability of COVID-19 vaccine to thousands of Alaskans, the Department of Health and Social Services announced on Monday that Alaskans aged 65 and older can begin receiving COVID-19 vaccinations on Monday, January 11. The scheduling process for these appointments will begin on Wednesday at noon.
Prior to Monday’s announcement, this sect of Alaskans was set to begin the process of receiving vaccinations later this month. According to DHSS, the Alaska Vaccine Task Force adjusted the timeline after they assessed how much vaccine remains to be administered.
Visiting COVIDVax.Alaska.gov allows Alaskans to determine their eligibility to schedule a vaccine, and then to make the subsequent appointment in a one-stop-shop. Tessa Walker Linderman of DHSS: “We are doing our very best to direct everyone to our website. You can review your eligibility and read more about availability. We’re hoping people will really look at that before they go down to locate a provider to schedule a link. Once you assess your eligibility, and that you are eligible for a vaccine, then it will take you to this map where you can click on different sites across the state to see where clinics are and what their availability is for appointments, right now.”
For those who may find it daunting to navigate an online frontend for the scheduling process, Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Anne Zink told KSRM that these concerns are being addressed by public health nurses: “There’s been great partnership with public health and with some of the pharmacies about everything from mobile teams that are doing long-term care facilities right now… We understand that this group, over 65, has some mobility issues and there’s a lot of work being done across the state. There’s already been clinics where people have gone, literally house-to-house to vaccinate people, so far. We understand that this is a challenge and we’re trying to meet people where they’re at, literally and figuratively, every way we possibly can.”
That phone number for more public heath information is (907) 646-3322, plus an e-mail option at [email protected].
For those who may be worried about a sudden surge of appointments being made all at once overwhelming the system, Linderman says that the tech team has prepared for the traffic: “Last Wednesday, when we opened this up it was a very high-traffic day on our website and also on the scheduling link and the locator map. We did not notice any sort of slowdown or really any issues at all for people being able to access the site. I think that was a good indication of the capacity of our site.”
Dr. Zink noted that Alaskans making appointments should not fear the handful of adverse reactions that made news last month. Rather, they should go into the process prepared to make the correct precautions: “We do ask that people stay afterwards to be monitored. I just want Alaskans to be aware of that. It’s between 15 to 30 minutes, depending on if you’ve had a severe reaction to other things in the past. I think Alaskans should be prepared for showing up for their appointment on-time, but also, staying around afterwards for a bit to be monitored. It’s a little bit different than the flu vaccine and other vaccines that people should be prepared for.”
