The virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic is still circulating and state health officials continue to recommend wide use of COVID vaccines, according to a newly released bulletin from the Alaska Division of Public Health epidemiology section.
The wording of that recommendation, however, is modified to reflect newly released guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
Health care providers should recommend vaccination “for all eligible patients” at least 6 months old, “especially considering those who are at increased risk for severe COVID-19 infection,” the state bulletin said.
That is slightly different wording from previous state recommendations, which was more general. The subtle change puts state recommendations in line with what the U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended on Sept. 19 that anyone at least 6 months of age should be vaccinated as “determined by individual decision-making.”
Advisory committee members who made the recommendation were appointed by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr., a critic of vaccines. Kennedy fired all members of the previous board, which had recommended the vaccinations without the same qualifications.
Alaska’s COVID-19 case numbers have been declining since the peak of the pandemic, as they have globally, and the past year’s records were part of that trend, according to the state epidemiology bulletin. Case counts are reported through laboratory testing and emergency room visits. The totals do not reflect cases among people who tested themselves but did not report the results.
Over the past COVID-19 season, which runs from early autumn to the end of summer, August was the month with the most lab-confirmed cases, totaling over 1,000 in number. That contrasts with seasonal trends in the rest of the nation, where there are surges in the disease during the winter.
Alaska’s higher August numbers may reflect the flow of more people in and out of the state at that time of the year, said Sarah Aho, the Division of Public Health’s immunization program manager and a co-author of the bulletin.
“There’s a lot of travel in August,” she said.
COVID-19 vaccines are currently available in Alaska, mostly in pharmacies, Aho said. People who want to use those pharmacy services should have no problem doing so, even if they are not over 65 or otherwise in a group that the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices considers to be at elevated risk, she said.
“There should be no issue for someone who wants a COVID vaccine to receive one,” she said.
SEARHC will provide COVID vaccinations at the Wrangell Medical Center. Call to schedule an appointment: 907-874-7000.
Alaska is one of many states where pharmacies are allowed to provide vaccines without prescriptions. Pharmacies gained that authority in a 2022 bill that was passed by state lawmakers and signed into law. In some other states, that authority for pharmacists is new.
Beyond pharmacies, there are some vaccine supply problems in the state, Aho said. The delay is especially affecting pediatric offices that depend on supplies through the state program, which has not yet ordered the vaccines, she said.
Children who would be vaccinated at their pediatricians’ offices might have to wait until mid- or late October, she said.
The delay might affect some rural communities, where clinics also depend on supplies from the state program, she said.
Before ordering COVID vaccines, state officials are waiting for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director, or acting director, to sign off on recommendations, Aho said.
“As soon as it happens, we are ready to start ordering and delivering,” she said. “Our intent is to have it widely available.”
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