By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Sitka’s rolling case rate average today dipped below 2 per day, for the first time since early November, as the state announced the arrival of a COVID vaccine made by the drug company Moderna.
The Sitka dashboard showed one new positive test result added Friday, and none Saturday or Sunday, for a 14-day rolling case rate of 1.79. It also shows 13 current active cases.
The positive case posted Friday was for a test taken Dec. 17 for an asymptomatic woman, age 50-59. The transmission classification was “community spread,” the resident is isolating in Sitka, and contact tracing is completed.
The cases show a downward trend since late November and early December, when the local rolling rate peaked at 5 cases per day. The case rate is based on a 14-day rolling average.
The number of cumulative cases here is 232 residents and 22 nonresidents. A total of 241 of the 254 total cumulative cases are listed as “recovered.” The dashboard lists five cumulative hospitalizations from COVID.
Sitka began vaccinating frontline healthcare workers, vaccinators and first responders, including EMTs and police officers, starting Dec. 16, with the Pfizer vaccine.
The Department of Health and Social Services said today the state received the Moderna vaccine, following the FDA’s authorization of it, for emergency use on Friday.
Some 5,674 doses of the Pfizer vaccine had been administered in Alaska by today, DHSS said.
SEARHC Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center, which is the depot for the vaccine, received 1,950 doses of the Pfizer but not all were for Sitka, Fire Chief Craig Warren said. The final tally for how many doses had been administered in town will be available Tuesday or Wednesday, he said.
Distribution and administration of the Moderna vaccine will occur this week alongside the continued roll-out of the Pfizer vaccine, which started last Monday, the news release said.
The Moderna vaccine received emergency use authorization from the FDA on Friday. The Centers for Disease Control’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended Saturday that Americans 18 and older receive the Moderna vaccine under emergency use.
CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield signed the committee’s recommendation, which began distribution of the Moderna vaccine on Sunday.
“We want to offer this vaccine to Alaskans as quickly as possible,” said Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink. “This is a major step in that direction. We’re extremely grateful for the hard work that has gone into developing this vaccine and ensuring its safety. Our role is to continue to distribute vaccine according to federal and state allocation plans to Alaskans who want it.”
The federal government estimates that Alaska will initially receive 26,800 doses of Moderna vaccine in addition to the 35,100 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which began to be distributed and administered last week. These numbers include the Indian Health Service allocations for Alaska, but do not include vaccine allocated to Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense.
“The initial state allocations from Pfizer and Moderna include enough doses for 61,900 people,” the DHSS said. “Both vaccines require a second dose; the second doses are being held in reserve by the federal government to ensure they will be available when needed. The follow-up dose of the Pfizer vaccine should be taken three weeks after the first dose while the separation between doses is four weeks for the Moderna vaccine.”
The news release said the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are similar in that they both use messenger RNA technology to protect people against the virus; are highly effective; and require two doses spaced apart.
Both vaccines must be kept cold but the Moderna vaccine must be shipped at -4° Fahrenheit and is stable after thawing at refrigerator temperatures for 30 days and at room temperature for 12 hours. The Pfizer vaccine must be shipped at -94° Fahrenheit but can be stored at refrigerated temperature for only five days.
“The Moderna vaccine will help us reach more communities, especially those that have less access to cold storage,” said Tessa Walker Linderman, the DHSS co-leader of Alaska’s COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force. “Having both vaccines provides us more vaccine – and more flexibility.”
Information on who can get vaccinated, and when is available on the DHSS website, and includes:
- Hospital-based front-line healthcare workers who are frequently exposed to COVID-19 patients.
- Long-term care facility residents and staff. This includes skilled nursing facilities, assisted living homes, and Department of Corrections infirmaries providing assisted living care.
More details on who is included in this group, or more information on who can be vaccinated and when, is available on the “Alaska Guidance for Allocating COVID-19 Vaccine information web page.
“Vaccine availability remains limited at this time and will be allocated according to federal and state recommendations,” the press release said.
The state vaccination website is: covidvax.alaska.gov
