By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Sitka’s COVID-19 case averages continued on a downward crawl but stayed above 8 per day.
With five resident positive virus tests added on Thursday, the 14-day rolling average was at 8.07, keeping the risk level at “high.”
But the trend is still downward as the larger cases-per-day drop off the two-week timeline. A 23-case day will fall off at the end of today, offset by the one or more cases added today, by press time today.
Vaccination rates continued to climb slowly in Sitka with 5,764 listed as partially vaccinated, 78.05 percent; and 5,330, or 72.17 percent, fully vaccinated. The figure is based on the age 12 and up population of 7,385.
Harry Race Pharmacy held a clinic for all three vaccines today, with 34 coming in for their shots next to the downtown pharmacy, Harry Race pharmacist Trish White said.
SEARHC is also holding regular clinics, with an estimated 70 to 80 administered a week, Dr. Elliot Bruhl, chief medical officer, told the Unified Command group Wednesday.
The FDA on Thursday authorized a third dose of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for certain immunocompromised individuals. The shots were not available yet in Sitka.
The third dose is for solid organ transplant recipients or those who are diagnosed with conditions that are considered to have an equivalent level of immunocompromise, the FDA said.
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is scheduled to meet Friday (today) to discuss further clinical recommendations regarding immunocompromised individuals,” the FDA said in a news release. “Today’s action does not apply to people who are not immunocompromised.”
Sitka has dropped several spots on the case rate per capita list on the New York Times table, after being the “hottest” county/borough in the state for weeks. Now, with a rate of 79 cases per 100,000, Sitka is nearly double the statewide average but is now ranked fifth. The daily rate has dropped some 65 percent in the last 14 days.
Haines is at the top of the list for Alaskan communities, with a daily rate of 141 per 100,000, followed by Ketchikan 104, Nome with 87 and Kodiak with 84. The Unified Command at a meeting this week said the Haines fair probably contributed to the uptick in that community.
Cases from the last week are used in the daily average on the New York Times table.
