JUNEAU (AP) — State health officials are urging Alaskans to get vaccinated and to get their booster shot as the Omicron variant continues to spread across the nation.
Alaska had no confirmed cases of the variant as of Tuesday, but officials want residents to be prepared.
“We know a lot about COVID, we were expecting this,” said Dr. Anne Zink, Alaska’s chief medical officer. “We continue to learn from around the world.”
Zink said Alaskans should get vaccinated for COVID-19 even though data on Omicron’s ability to possibly evade vaccine immunity is still being examined.
“Imperfect protection is better than no protection at all,” Zink said.
As of Monday, 62% of all eligible Alaskans had received at least their first vaccination shot, according to the state health department website. The rate in Wrangell was 65%, the lowest in Southeast.
Both the state and Wrangell rates are more than 10 percentage points below the national average.
The rate for children ages 12 through 18 in Wrangell with at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine was 39% as of Monday, far below the statewide average of 54%, as reported by the state’s Sleeves Up for School count.
The rate in Wrangell for children ages 5 through 11 was about 7% as of Monday.
Of the almost 1,300 Wrangell residents who have received two vaccination shots, about 11% have received a booster, SEARHC reported on its website last weekend.
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