Alaska Snapshot: Friday, April 30th - Alaska To Receive A Billion Dollars In Federal COVID Plan

Snapshot Alaska

Anchorage, Ketchikan, Fairbanks and Juneau Airports Will Offer Free Vaccines To Visitors But Instate Vaccination Rate Slows

Governor Announces Sweeping Economic Initiative  
In a major press conference on Friday afternoon, April 16th, Governor Dunleavy suggested legislation to distribute money, shots and advertising — and to stimulate cultural tourism development, fishing and agriculture projects across the state. The major push, which uses various sources of federal funds, follows a very gloomy report from the Alaska economic team. The economists’ report showed a struggling Alaskan economy with little prospect of immediate, healthy recovery.

Legislature Scrambles To Devise A Distribution Plan 
With a May 15th adjournment looming, the legislature is trying to come up with a way of using reserved money to help Alaska bounce back. The money is Alaska's part of the American Rescue Plan that recently distributed $1,400 per person to many Americans and also extended federal unemployment benefits to help people who are out of work.

One-Shot J&J Vaccine Is Approved To Resume 
Administration of the J&J vaccine was stopped on Tuesday, April 13th. Recently CDC and the FDA announced that the vaccine was safe enough to resume vaccinating people.

The approval comes with some warnings to protect the very small group of individuals who might be susceptible to blood clotting side effects. A warning will be added to its label to note the potential risk of rare blood clots. There are apparently also different ways the blood clots should be treated if they do occur.

The advantage of the J&J Vaccine is it is a one-shot vaccine and also that it requires less complicated storage and is the best hope for the pandemic being stopped across the world.
A small group of women, out of the almost 7 million persons who have gotten the J&J vaccine, developed blood clots. There are many possible reasons, other than the J&J vaccine, that could have led to this complication — including birth control pills, which already carry the risk of blood clots. 

If you have taken the J&J vaccine and feel anything unusual you should contact your doctor just to be safe. 

Alaska's Race To "Return To Normal"
Alaska won't be able to return to normal social and economic activity until at least 75% of Alaskans are vaccinated. By Friday, April 29th, 50% of Alaskans had received at least their first vaccine dose. After one shot of a two-dose regimen a person is estimated to be about 80% protected.

Southeast Alaska is leading the way, with the highest percentage of people vaccinated. 

The Interior of Alaska, including the Copper River Valley, had 44.6% of its residents fully vaccinated. The Mat-Su Region still trailed the whole state, with the lowest numbers of vaccinated people: only 29.4% of its residents compared to 46.6% of Anchorage residents. 

Fairbanks Is Now Even Worse Than Mat-Su
In a race to the bottom Fairbanks has passed Mat-Su with the highest case rate in the state with 47.71 cases per 100,000 people. Mat-Su still has the lowest vaccination rates in Alaska. Fairbanks is the second worse part of the state in vaccinations.

Takeaways From Wednesday Science Forums
Every Wednesday, Alaska's top health people gather to answer the everyday people's questions about a wide range of health issues.

Vaccines are flushed very quickly from the body. 
Unlike many drugs that people take routinely, vaccines don't stay in the body.

Vaccines Help People With Long Term COVID.  

• Doctor Joe McLaughlin has said that (using anecdotal evidence) doctors have reported that people who suffer from longterm COVID have significant improvement after they get the vaccine.

Asymptomatic COVID Patients Can Get Long Term COVID Problems
• Dr. McLaughlin said that Doctors had discovered some people who get a mild case of COVID or were asymptomatic were having long term problems. The most dangerous was stroke but also included: fatigue, brain fog, dizziness, depression, anxiety, and loss of hair among others. 

Alaska Has To Get People Vaccinated

• Dr. McLaughlin said "Our Number One Goal Is To Get As Many People Vaccinated As Possible"

Alaska Has To Get Back To Normal With Vaccines
• Dr. McLaughlin said that vaccine hesitancy is the number one impediment to getting back to normal.

Alert Levels 

The current statewide alert level, based on the average daily case rate over 14 days per 100,000, is still high at 21.28 cases per 100,000 today. Seven out of eleven regions of Alaska are still in high alert status with widespread community transmission. 

Twelve More Alaskans Died As April Ends
On Monday, April 26th, 12 more Alaskans were reported to have died from COVID-19. They were:

• A Fairbanks Man who died out of state.

• An Alaskan woman from Bethel resident died.

• An Alaskan man from Wasilla died.

• Another Alaskan man from Wasilla died.

• An Alaskan woman from Wasilla died.

• Another Alaskan woman from Wasilla died.

• An Alaskan man from Wasilla in his 20s died out of state.

• An Alaskan woman from the Mat-Su Borough in her 40s died out of state.

• An Alaskan woman from Anchorage died.

• An Alaskan man from Anchorage died.

• An Alaskan woman from Anchorage in her 30s died out of state.

• An Alaskan man from the Aleutians West Census Area died.

Anchorage Ends Many COVID Restrictions On Businesses.
A week after extending the emergency which was put in place in March of 2020 the Anchorage assembly reversed course and ended many of the restrictions on businesses early. The city orders will become advisory orders — not mandatory ones – on May 3rd. The mask mandate is still in effect. The mayor can reinstate the orders if deaths or hospitalizations increase.

 

Get Vaccinated & Get Alaska's Economy Back Up And Running

Call CRNA 822-5241

 Tracking Alaska's Previous Numbers