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Alaskans over 65 eligible for vaccinations earlier than first expected

Published 10:30 pm Sunday, January 3, 2021

By Ben Hohenstatt

In this Dec. 24 photo, Arsenio “Pastor” Credo receives the Moderna coronavirus vaccine from nurse Courtney Taber at the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium’s Ethel Lund Medical Center. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
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In this Dec. 24 photo, Arsenio “Pastor” Credo receives the Moderna coronavirus vaccine from nurse Courtney Taber at the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium’s Ethel Lund Medical Center. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

In this Dec. 24 photo, Arsenio “Pastor” Credo receives the Moderna coronavirus vaccine from nurse Courtney Taber at the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium’s Ethel Lund Medical Center. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
In this Dec. 24 photo, Arsenio “Pastor” Credo receives the Moderna coronavirus vaccine from nurse Courtney Taber at the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium’s Ethel Lund Medical Center. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

Alaskans 65 and older are eligible to begin receiving COVID-19 vaccinations starting next week, the state announced on Monday.

Beginning at noon on Wednesday, Jan. 6, the Alaska COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force is opening up appointment scheduling and vaccination clinics for people 65 and older, the Department of Health and Social Services said in a news release.

Appointments start on Monday, Jan. 11.

[Officials say more vaccinations are on the way]

Appointments can be made online at http://covidvax.alaska.gov/.

“All clinics who have received COVID-19 vaccine should continue to vaccinate the remaining health care workers from Phase 1a who wish to be vaccinated, but we are also excited to open up appointments for Alaskans who are 65 years of age or older,” said Dr. Anne Zink., Alaska’s chief medical officer, in a news release.

Originally, vaccinations for people 65 and older were slated for late January, but the timeline was changed after health officials assessed the amount of vaccine yet to be administered, according to DHSS. A July 2019 population estimate put the number of Alaskans older than 65 at 91,278, according to Department of Labor and Workforce Development data.

Read the full news release below:

• Contact Ben Hohenstatt at (907)308-4895 or bhohenstatt@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BenHohenstatt

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