State health officials say the first shipment of the Covid-19 vaccine could arrive in Alaska in a few weeks.
અધિકારીઓએ સોમવારે જણાવ્યું હતું કે આરોગ્ય સંભાળ, સહાયક જીવનનિર્વાહ અને કટોકટીની તબીબી સેટિંગમાં આવશ્યક કામદારો માટે રસીના પ્રારંભિક જૂથોને પ્રાથમિકતા આપવામાં આવશે. Vaccines will initially be in limited quantities, and will not be available to the general public around March. The state is still working on plans to prioritize the vaccine once it becomes more available.
Mid-December timeline for vaccination Based on new announcements made by two pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer and Moderna, who say their vaccine against Covid-19 is more than 90 percent effective, a staggeringly high effective rate for vaccines developed in record time, health officials say.
A third vaccine from a UK-based pharmaceutical company called AstraZeneca announced early Monday that its vaccine was up to 90% effective.
The high efficacy rate of the vaccine is “such a victory,” said state epidemiologist Joe McLaughlin. For comparison, the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine is usually between 40 and 60%, he said.
Moderna has said it intends to submit its own application within a week for the use of emergency authorization, and AstraZeneca also said it plans to apply for approval as soon as possible.
As these final strips remain to be cleared, questions arise about who will receive the vaccine and when, how safe it is, and how distribution in Alaska, a state with unique geographical challenges and limited health access, can work.
Here is what we know about Alaska’s plans.
The state has not yet decided on a timetable for vaccine distribution, but it will be phased out, giving priority to front-line health care workers for the first dose, said Tessa Waker Kar Linderman, co-chair of the Alaska COVID vaccine task force. , During a briefing on Monday.
Based on the latest timetable for meetings scheduled by federal agencies, the Pfizer vaccine could be sent out very soon on Dec. 10, Moderna said with about a week left, on the same call the state’s chief medical officer, Dr. An. .
Frontline health care workers are being defined as critical employees of hospitals, frontline EMS staff and employees of long-term care facilities, said V. Linderman.
રાજ્યને ખબર નથી કે તે કેટલી રસી લેશે, અને અધિકારીઓ હાલમાં ત્રણ જુદા જુદા દૃશ્યો માટે વિચારી રહ્યા છે: એક જેમાં રાજ્ય શરૂઆતમાં 5,000,૦૦૦ થી ઓછા ડોઝ મેળવે છે; About a 10,000 dose; And one about 20,000.
“We haven’t been given a specific number, but these are our three possible scenarios through which we plan to work,” he said during a call with potential vaccine providers last week.
Many of those communities where the state is always going to a rational distribution of the vaccine challenge are only accessible by plane, boat or snowmobile.
A tight timeline for delivery – especially in the case of the Pfizer vaccine, which should be stored at a temperature of minus 70 degrees Celsius, and can only be refrigerated for five days after thawing – officials say.
“There are very few freezers in Alaska and in the country that have that capacity,” said Joe Mlooflin, an epidemiologist at the state Department of Health. “And so it makes it a logical way to reach more rural areas, vaccination little difficult,” he explained.
Fortunately, the modern vaccine is a bit easier in the temperature range, he said; More in the minus of 20.
The AstraZeneca vaccine does not need to be stored at extreme-cold temperatures.
State health officials said their main priorities are to ensure that rural Alaskanis have equal and equal access to the vaccine.
“There’s been a lot of discussion about this conversation right now,” Zink said. “We know that rural health outcomes are generally poor.”
At both the federal and state levels, there is talk of equal access to vaccine distribution, he said.
A team of 40 people, including representatives from the state and the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, are working “twenty-four hours” on plans to obtain, distribute and administer the vaccine, said Winder Kar Linderman.
Alaska has not yet decided which vaccine it will receive, but it will depend on which is ultimately determined to be the safest and most effective, and it is logically easy to distribute in the state.
They can also see the differential effectiveness of these vaccines by sub-population – for example, one can work better on older adults or those at higher risk. It will also affect their decision.
The physician of the state health department, Dr. Liz Ohalsen said in a call last weekend that the development of the Covid-19 vaccine has progressed faster than usual, nor have drug companies left any step up for their clinical trials. .
Ohalasene said spaida-up are some of the reasons for the timelines, which does not include any safety or effectiveness solution.
“Labs around the world gave up everything they were doing and turned to this,” he said. “So a lot of information has been shared that we’ve never seen before.”
Both drug companies have now completed their phase three clinical trials, he said. With thousands of people now being tested, scientists are taking a closer look at how safe they are and how well they work.
Ohalsen said people should be aware that according to information published so far on the two vaccines, it looks like both could cause mild side effects in the first few days.
“So these are things like fatigue, headaches, joint pains and colds,” he said. He said that the second dose usually stimulates the “immune response”, which is why the side effects are so significant.
“These symptoms simply show that your body is responding, and this is not a sign that the vaccine is hurting you,” he said.
However, “it is important that it not be unexpected side effects than the first three days of receipt of the adverse effects of the vaccine are already familiar with.”
More can be known once all the data from clinical trials have become publicly available, he said.
There should be no cost for vaccinated patients, Vaker Kar told Linderman. However, health care providers will be able to pay the insurance bill for the administration fee.
The Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also said the cost of obtaining the vaccine would not be a barrier and that supplies would be distributed free of charge to COVID-19 vaccination providers registered by the federal government.
Despite the setbacks, Alaskan officials say the news of the vaccine on the horizon seems optimistic.
“We are extremely excited about the opportunity for possible vaccinations in the near future,” Zinc said.
However, he reminded Alaskan that the vaccine is not a magical cure, and that Alaska still needs to adhere to all public health guidelines to control the spread. The virus is still rampant in the state, he said. The effects of the vaccine will not be felt immediately.
He said, “I would kind of think of this as the sun.” “Alaska is used for winter blackouts, and we also use December. The 22nd doesn’t seem lighter than the 21st. And I think the vaccine will feel the same way. “
First, you won’t notice it, he said. By February, it looks like something is changing.
“And by the summer solstice, it will be like, the sun is out, and it’s different than before,” he said.
ADN reporter Zaz Hollander contributed to this story.
