The early batches of vaccine will be prioritized for essential workers in health care, assisted living and emergency medical settings, officials said Monday. Vaccines will be in limited quantity initially, and probably won’t be available to the general public until around March.
Health
What tourism bubbles could look like in Southeast Alaska port communities
A consultant framed geographic bubbles as a possibility. You take a map, draw a line and seal a section of town off from the rest of the community. To get in or out, workers would need to go through the same precautions as cruise ship passengers — testing, temperature checks and so on.
Coast Guard newbies stepped up when mission was threatened by quarantine
The youngest, newest and usually most-inexperienced members of the Coast Guard helped save a ship’s mission this summer.
For pandemic Thanksgiving, a growing group of Anchorage restaurants are cooking
Amid months of uncertainty and pandemic disruptions, Anchorage restaurant owners say demand for Thanksgiving dinner to-go has been an unexpected boost for business.
Juneau Assembly approves more CARES funding for businesses and individuals impacted by COVID-19
On Monday night, the Assembly passed $2.3 million in CARES Act funding to create another grant program for businesses and another $2 million for grants to individuals impacted by the pandemic.
LISTEN: Norwegian concept of frifluftsliv offers insight to coping with pandemic
The literal translation is “life of the free air.”
Federal judge overrules Dunleavy administration’s objections to Kake’s COVID-19 hunt
In an order issued Wednesday, Judge Sharon L. Gleason wrote that federal officials had taken both conservation and public safety concerns into account when it approved Kake’s out-of-season hunt. She also noted that when federal officials reached out to state wildlife managers, they didn’t respond.
Alaska’s geography poses unique challenges for getting COVID-19 vaccines, treatments to rural areas
One of the leading vaccines has to be stored at minus 95 degrees Fahrenheit, and once it’s thawed, it lasts just five days in a refrigerator. That timeline could prove hard to meet for villages that are only accessible by air and can face weather-related delays.
Alaska inmate dies with COVID-19; cases still on the rise ahead of the holidays
The 69-year-old is the first inmate in the state to die of COVID-19, according to the Department of Corrections.
Anchorage health officials plead for residents’ help in contact tracing
A 31% increase in cases in Anchorage over the last week, combined with the noncooperation of some residents, has significantly reduced the proportion of people that the city can contact.