Updated post — Dec. 8, 7:45 p.m.
Juneau officials expect to get almost 1,000 doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine as early as next week.
Juneau Emergency Operations Planning Chief Robert Barr says this first batch will be prioritized according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plan.
“And that first phase includes health care workers, police officers, firefighters, and other emergency and first responders, as well as long-term care facility residents,” he said.
Barr says people in those categories can expect to hear from health officials about getting vaccinated.
He says it’s unlikely there will be enough in the initial shipment for all of Juneau’s entire first phase.
“Probably the biggest thing it depends on is who chooses to receive the vaccine during the first phase,” he said.
And while it won’t be required, Barr said, “we highly encourage it, and the safety data is really solid.”
Barr says regular shipments of the vaccine are expected to keep coming every week or two. Moderna’s vaccine may be in the mix later on.
The next vaccination phase covers many more people, including essential workers, workers that interact with the public a lot, people age 65 and up, and people with other health risk factors.
Barr also shared updates on work to set up a COVID-19 testing lab at Bartlett Regional Hospital. He says the machinery should arrive next week. It’s expected to take several weeks to install, train lab staff on its operation, and run trials to make sure that it works. He thinks it will be up and running by the end of January.
“Again, little wiggle room either way, but likely by the end of January,” he said. “And we will start with our symptomatic tests, and then as our capacity grows, expand out from there.”
The new lab is expected to cut the turnaround time for results from about two days to the same day. It could also help other Southeast Alaska communities with their testing needs.
Barr and other local officials spoke during the city’s weekly COVID-19 community update on Tuesday, as public health data showed case counts appearing to trend down.
Officials identified just three new cases Tuesday.
The low case count is especially noteworthy for two reasons. First, it’s been almost two weeks since Thanksgiving, which is when a potential surge related to holiday gatherings would likely show up in the data.
“As we get farther away from Thanksgiving, we’ll start to see how well we did as a community,” said City Manager Rorie Watt, who also thanked Juneau for giving up a normal Thanksgiving to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
The other reason the low case count is notable is that the city stood up a free, temporary testing event last week to try to find and contain harder-to-detect cases among people without symptoms. As of Tuesday afternoon, Barr says 644 appointments had been scheduled.
To limit demand, these tests were initially for people who spent time indoors unmasked with others, or who work regularly with the public. Barr says the demand has been manageable, so it’s been opened up to anyone.
“If you want to get a COVID test, now’s the time to do it,” he said.
Test appointments will be available through Sunday (Dec. 13) and can be made through the city’s website, or by calling the city’s regular COVID hotline at 586-6000.
The city’s risk level remains high. The city’s COVID measures require that masks be worn indoors. They also limit bars and restaurants to half capacity, and gyms and personal service providers to quarter capacity.
Original post — Dec. 8, 3:30 p.m.
Public health data shows COVID-19 case counts appear to be trending down in Juneau once again.
Local officials identified three new cases Tuesday, and they’ve averaged three per day since Friday. This follows a one-day spike of 17 cases on Thursday.
The low, new case count is extra noteworthy for two reasons: It’s been almost two weeks since Thanksgiving, which is toward the tail end of when a potential surge related to holiday gatherings would likely show up in the data. And second, the city stood up a free, temporary testing event last week to try to find and contain harder-to-detect cases among people without symptoms.
Free, asymptomatic testing appointments are still available through the city’s website, or by calling the city’s regular COVID hotline at 586-6000.
Juneau officials’ weekly community update on COVID-19 is scheduled for 4 p.m. today. You can watch it at KTOO.org, on the City and Borough of Juneau’s Facebook page or on Zoom.
The city’s risk level remains high. The city’s COVID measures require that masks be worn indoors. They also limit bar and restaurant capacity to half capacity, and gyms and personal service providers to quarter capacity.
