By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Even as the rolling average of COVID-19 cases in Sitka declines and increasing numbers of Sitkans are getting vaccinations, the city’s pandemic response team says everyone should keep their guard up.
The favorable figures show the community is on the right path, said incident commander John Leach at Wednesday’s weekly Unified Command meeting.
The city as a whole, the Sitka School District, and Mt. Edgecumbe High School are at low risk for transmission, and the graphic dashboard on the city website today showed the 14-day rolling average in Sitka at .36 cases per day, with three active cases.
“It’s a sign of everybody here doing what we’re asking them to do,” said Leach, leading off the Wednesday meeting. “The best I can say is keep up the good work. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Vaccinations are happening and the case count is coming down, so things are looking good right now.”
There were several reports at the meeting about the two local vaccination programs.
Dirk White, co-owner of Harry Race Pharmacy, talked about the vaccination “miniclinic” earlier that day, when 11 people received the Moderna vaccine, and six the Pfizer. The figures include two individuals who received the second dose that both vaccines require.
Harry Race counted just under 550 total doses given, including both first and second shots. More than 100 Sitkans have now received both doses through the pharmacy clinics, White said, and more are scheduled for February (links below).
Maegan Bosak, SEARHC marketing and communications director, said that as of Wednesday the health consortium had given 1,845 first doses, and 618 second doses of vaccine.
“We’re making our way through it,” Bosak said. “Clinics are continuing to happen this week.”
(Registration links for the SEARHC vaccination program are listed below.)
“We ask Sitkans to continue being part of the solution by vaccinating, masking, social distancing and having great hygiene,” Bosak said.
She also provided figures for COVID-19 tests performed in Sitka. As of today, that included 46,360 tests performed, with 318 unique positive results, 45,942 negative, and 100 with results pending.
“We continue to test for those that are symptomatic or are identified as a close contact,” Bosak said. “We also have asymptomatic testing for those needing to travel.”
SEARHC Chief Medical Officer Dr. Elliot Bruhl commented, “We’re really excited about the progress we’re making on vaccinations.... We’re down into the fourth tier here in Sitka in terms of sequencing, which means that we’re doing essential workers and everybody (over 55), but if you’re 20 or you’re 35, even if you’re not an essential worker, we want you to register. You don’t need to worry that you’re going to be taking a vaccine away from an older person. I think I hear that concern: ‘I don’t want to register because I’m afraid I’ll take a vaccine from an older person.’
“And I just want to reassure people that when you register, and you put in an email that’s valid, what it does is it allows us to notify you of an opportunity to get scheduled at a point in time when it’s appropriate,” he continued. “So if you’re a younger person, that time may not be until late February or March, but it helps us in terms of being able to anticipate things -- like the numbers of nurses that we need and the numbers of other staff that we need to run the clinics.”
Bruhl added today that at SEARHC clinics this week, some 750 Sitkans received their first or second dose of Pfizer vaccine. Another 1,000 are signed up and awaiting their first dose.
Bruhl said he’s also heard questions about scheduling a second shot.
“You will get an appointment for your second shot at the time you get your first shot, and we are receiving vaccine to cover second shots, consistently,” he said. Bruhl said the second shot is needed to “get the full benefit of the shot.”
“There’s been changes in some of the administrative processes around allocation from the state, but really the vaccine supply coming to us continues to be strong,” Bruhl said. “I’m looking right now in February at having over 3,000 additional doses for SEARHC (for Southeast). But we’ll continue to be able to vaccinate significant numbers of people in Sitka. Please continue to sign up.”
SEARHC has vaccinated 6,850 individuals regionwide, with a goal of reaching 10,000 by March.
State Public Health Nurse Denise Ewing echoed Leach’s comments about the favorable statistics on tests and vaccinations, and emphasized the need to keep up precautions such as social distancing, wearing a mask and washing hands.
“Enjoy the Super Bowl game at a distance,” she said. “I’m just asking everybody not to let their guard down during this time but to continue to realize that other people are still getting very ill with COVID.”
As for the arrival of the variant strain of COVID-19 from the United Kingdom in Alaska, she said, “Just be mindful of that as well as we go forward and continue to do what we’ve been doing and doing so well.”
Dirk White praised city officials for initiating the COVID Conscious Business program. The goal of the program, organizers have said, is to give residents information needed to make shopping decisions during the pandemic.
“It’s a great way that shows that the city is also trying to help promote businesses and keep things going,” said White, whose Harry Race Pharmacy is one of eight businesses listed so far as a COVID Conscious Business.
City Planning Director Amy Ainslie said more information on the program is available at cityofsitka.org. A story on the program was in Thursday’s Sentinel.
Mt. Edgecumbe High School Superintendent Janelle Vanasse reported the on-campus risk level is low, after the school followed its return-to-school plan calling for students to quarantine and start their studies through virtual means.
“If the city goes to low risk, we’ll be overall low risk, and our students will have a little bit more freedom to interact with town,” Vanasse said. The risk level moved to Low the following day.
Sitka School Superintendent John Holst thanked SEARHC for spearheading the vaccination of school district staff, and making it available to all who wanted a vaccination.
Registration for vaccinations through SEARHC is at:
covid19.searhc.org
“Provide a valid email at registration and you will receive instructions to schedule your appointment as soon as the vaccine is available for your sequence group,” said a SEARHC news release.
SEARHC has announced that it is scheduling vaccinations for everyone 55 and up, all medically vulnerable individuals age 16 to 64, and all essential workers. Anyone interested in getting vaccinated is encouraged to register on the SEARHC website.
Harry Race has appointments open for clinics Feb. 10 and Feb. 17 for those 65 and up and workers in health care settings, meeting certain criteria. The Harry Race clinics are at the Sitka Fire Department.
The signup link for Feb. 10 is:
https://cw2-alaska-production.herokuapp.com/client/registration?clinic_id=553
And for Feb. 17:
https://cw2-alaska-production.herokuapp.com/client/registration?clinic_id=554
Those needing help signing up may call Trish White at 966-2102.
