The Covid-19 vaccine arrives in Alaska

The first shipment of COVID-19 vaccine arrived Sunday night in Anchorage, and delivery of the vaccine to health care facilities across Alaska began this morning.  This will lead to the first vaccinations of Alaskans this week.

Governor Mike Dunleavy said “The COVID-19 vaccine is going to help Alaskans put the worst behind us. We will begin the process of finally getting the upper hand of this pandemic and getting our lives back to normal.”

The vaccine, which was made by Pfizer and BioNTech, was authorized Friday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration through an emergency use authorization.

According to Tessa Walker Linderman, co-lead of Alaska’s Vaccine Task Force, “The Alaska Vaccine Task Force has been preparing for many months to receive these first shipments and to guarantee safe vaccine handling, according to the vaccine’s unique requirements.”

The task force, led by Alaska’s Department of Health and Social Services and the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, has been working since August to create a logistical plan that will work for Alaska.

The initial supply of the vaccine is limited and will be made available to hospital-based front-line health care workers and nursing home residents. Others in line to receive primary batches of vaccines are prison-based infirmaries, Emergency Medical Service providers, and Community Health Practitioners.

The vaccine will be more accessible as more shipments are released, and the Alaska COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation Committee will continue to identify groups to receive vaccination. Eventually all Alaskans who wish to be vaccinated against COVID-19 will have an opportunity to do so.

Additional information about the COVID-19 vaccine and Alaska’s distribution plan may be found at Covidvax.Alaska.gov.