Just a couple weeks ago, Ketchikan reported 20 new COVID-19 cases in a single day and had more than 100 active cases in the borough. A week ago, the community still had more than 80 active cases and four people in the hospital.
About 20% of all the cases reported in Ketchikan since the pandemic infected and inflicted its misery on the world more than a year ago have occurred in just the past few weeks. Many of the recent cases are people who did not choose to get vaccinated. Almost 40% of Ketchikan Borough residents 16 and older had not received even their first vaccine dose as of last weekend, according to the state health department.
It's been a similarly bad month in Fairbanks, which saw a painful spike in cases starting late April. The rise in cases was driven by younger, unvaccinated residents, pushing the hospital to a near crisis.
At one point earlier this month, the state reported that more than 25% of patients in the Interior were hospitalized for COVID-19, five times the percentage for the rest of the state.
"The demographic that we're seeing now are people who have not been vaccinated," a Fairbanks hospital official said. "Some of those are people who just haven't gotten around to get the vaccine. But some are individuals who don't believe in the vaccine, don't want to get it. They let our staff know."
And now, state officials report they are seeing a sharp increase in Alaskans with a more contagious and potentially more deadly strain of the Coronavirus first seen in Britain that has spread worldwide. Alaska health officials are urging people to get vaccinated, emphasizing that the shots are effective against the U.K. strain.
That's a healthy message. Roll up your sleeve - right or left, it doesn't matter which arm or political persuasion - and say ouch for your community.
And for your community's economy. Just because Alaska considers itself open for business, as Gov. Mike Dunleavy says, the rest of the world may not. Some cruise companies say they will bypass Ketchikan entirely if it can't get its numbers under control. That's a huge blow for a town still reeling from last year's cruise-less summer.
Overall, Alaska's COVID-19 case count is declining, as almost 55% of Alaskans age 16 and older had received at least one vaccine dose as of last Friday, according to the state health department.
Wrangell was at 59% with at least one shot in the arm as of last week.
But the vaccination rate in Fairbanks was only 45%, and the tally was even lower in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, at 37%.
Of the dozen COVID-19 deaths reported in Alaska over the past three weeks, state health officials said, seven lived in Fairbanks and five in the Mat-Su Borough.
A vaccination shot could have prevented those deaths.
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