COVID cases trend down in Alaska
The Alaska Dept. of Health reports that COVID-19 transmission remain widespread in most parts of Alaska but case numbers are trending down. The department noted a 15 percent decrease in infections from 646 reported cases two weeks ago to 546 cases reported last week. The Nome Census area infection rate is also trending down with a total of five active cases in Nome and the region as of press time.
The number of patients hospitalized in Alaska with COVID-19 is also decreasing and no new deaths have been reported.
Updated COVID-19 booster vaccines have arrived in Nome on Sept. 14 when NSHC received the first shipment of Pfizer-BioNTech bivalent boosters. The boosters were available the next week regionwide. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration recently approved to expand the COVID-19 vaccination emergency use authorizations to now include Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna mRNA bivalent boosters. A bivalent booster is made the same way as other mRNA COVID-19 vaccines but targets more than one strain of the virus. These boosters are effective against the more recent Omicron subvariants, as well as the original SARS-CoV-2 strain.
Anyone 12-years-old and older who received their last COVID-19 vaccination at least two months ago can get a booster. For those who recently tested positive for COVID-19, it is recommended to wait two months after recovering from the illness. The booster can be given with a flu shot, and common side effects include headache, fatigue and discomfort at the injection site.
Regionwide, 80 percent of the total population have received at least one dose of vaccine since the vaccination rollout in Dec. 2020. Since antibody protection decreases over time, getting a bivalent booster will help give your immune system a boost and protect against specific variants, a NSHC press release said. In the U.S., nearly all the cases of severe illness, hospitalization, and death continue to occur among those not yet vaccinated against COVID19.
The Alaska Dept. of Health says that updated COVID-19 boosters can help restore protection that has decreased since previous vaccination and provide broader protection against newer variants. The department reminds that fall is a good time to receive an annual influenza vaccine in addition to the COVID booster shot.
CDC no longer recommends quarantine of exposed persons in most settings, regardless of vaccination status. People with symptoms of COVID-19 should still get tested, and if they test positive, notify their contacts. Contacts should wear a mask and get tested.
The week in numbers: On September 27, NSHC identified two new cases in Brevig Mission and Shishmaref, bringing the number of active COVID cases to 13 in the region: six cases in Shishmaref, three cases in Nome, two cases in Brevig and one case in Savoonga and one in Unalakleet.
On September 28, two new infections were identified in Unalakleet, one in Koyuk and one in Teller.
On September 29, two new cases were found in Brevig, bringing the total infection rate to ten active cases in the region: Four
cases in Brevig, two cases in Shishmaref, two cases in Unalakleet, one case in Koyuk and one case in Teller.
On Friday, September 30, there were two new cases reported in Nome.
On the weekend, no new cases were reported.
As of press time on Tuesday, Oct. 4 there were five active case in the region: Two cases in Nome, one case in Brevig, one case in Koyuk and one case in Teller.
Since the start of the pandemic the United States of America has had 96,249,466 officially reported cases of COVID-19 and 1,054,443 associated deaths.
Alaska has had at least 282,925 cases, 3,955 hospitalizations and 1,329 deaths. There are currently 34 people hospitalized due to COVID19 in the state.
The Nome, Bering Strait and Norton Sound region had at least 6,533 COVID-19 cases, 48 hospitalizations and six deaths.