Residents are invited to reserve a spot at the Wrangell Medical Center’s COVID-19 booster vaccination clinics planned for Dec. 9 and 16.
Though infection rates in Wrangell and across Alaska have declined this fall, health officials are advising that case counts could rise as people spend more time indoors for holiday activities.
The first clinic is planned for 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Dec. 9 for the Pfizer booster. Residents are advised to call 907-874-7000 and reserve an appointment. The third booster shot of the vaccine to help protect against COVID-19 is available for people ages 12 and older, SEARHC said.
A clinic to administer the Moderna booster is planned for Dec. 16.
“People have the option to choose between the two vaccines,” said Randi Yancey, medical office coordinator for SEARHC in Wrangell. “We will continue scheduling vaccine clinics into the future.”
New patients are encouraged to register online before the clinic at searhc.org.
The health care provider will bill insurance for vaccinations, said Lyndsey Schaefer, communications director at SEARHC, which provides services in 19 Southeast communities. The federal government stopped paying for vaccinations a month ago.
Lack of insurance is not an impediment for people who want a vaccine shot. “SEARHC is committed to providing care to all, including COVID vaccines, regardless of ability to pay,” Schaefer said last week.
“People are eligible for the bivalent Pfizer booster (covering this summer’s two variants of the virus) if they are 12 years or older and it has been at least two months since their last vaccine dose,” Yancey said. “The Moderna vaccine age requirement is 18 or older and it has been at least two months since their last dose.”
As of Nov. 1, SEARHC reported it had administered almost 3,800 COVID vaccination shots in Wrangell — a combination of first and second doses, and boosters.
The state health department reported last week that 63% of Wrangell residents had received at least the primary series of vaccinations, better than the statewide number of 57%. The percentage of vaccinated Wrangell seniors at least age 65 was 78%, and the percentage of children under age 18 was 28%.
As of Nov. 22, Wrangell had reported only three new cases to state health officials in the past 30 days. The pandemic total in town since March 2020 was at 769 cases as of Nov. 22. The results of at-home tests are not included in the state tally.
“For those wanting to get the booster but have recently had COVID-19, they are not required to wait 90 days. They could receive the booster as soon as their symptoms have improved and they are out of their quarantine period,” Yancey explained.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises that people coming off a recent infection “may consider delaying their next vaccine dose by three months,” Yancey said, but it is not mandatory.
“The CDC also states that getting a COVID-19 vaccine after having the illness provides added proception against becoming reinfected with the virus,” she said. “Reasons to get a vaccine sooner rather than later include your own personal risk of having severe health concerns, your local COVID-19 community level, and the most common COVID-19 variant currently causing illness.”
Reader Comments(0)