South Peninsula Hospital now offers walk-in vaccinations at its Bartlett Street testing and vaccine center. On its website at www.sph.org, the hospital announced that people can get Pfizer vaccinations without an appointment from noon-5 p.m. daily.
Appointment service also is offered by calling 907-235-0235 or on the hospital website.
Alaska Department of Health and Social Services data on the state’s vaccine monitoring dashboard shows that as of Tuesday, on the peninsula 19,708 people have received at least one dose and 16,753 have been fully vaccinated, with 34,992 doses fully administered. That’s 40.5% who have received at least one dose and 35.6% who are fully vaccinated.
Statewide as of Tuesday there have been 286,010 people in Alaska who have received at least one dose and 240,310 people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 for a total of 513,012 doses administered in Alaska. That’s 48.7% of Alaskans who have received one dose and 41.2% of Alaskans who are fully vaccinated.
On the Kenai Peninsula, 64.5% of Alaskans age 65 and older have received at least one dose of a vaccine and 61.2% of seniors are fully vaccinated. For all ages 16 and older on the peninsula, 34,492 doses have been administered, with 19,078 receiving at least one dose and 16,753 fully vaccinated.
Alaska’s rank has fallen into the bottom 25 in terms of its rate of vaccination for both first and full doses, according to New York Times reporting. In terms of fully vaccinated residents, Alaska’s rank of almost 40% fully vaccinated is behind New Hampshire, ranked at the top with 59%, but it is right at the national average of 40%.
Additionally, fully vaccinated people no longer need to quarantine if they get exposed to a case of COVID-19, as long as they remain asymptomatic. To read the full CDC guidelines, visit cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated.html.
For the month of April, South Peninsula Hospital Public Information Officer Derotha Ferraro said the hospital is expecting 2,300 doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
Alaska was the first state to open up COVID-19 vaccines to all residents age 16 and older. The Pfizer vaccine is authorized for people age 16 and older, while the Moderna vaccine and the Janssen vaccine from Johnson & Johnson are able to be used on people 18 and older.
To see all the state’s options for health care providers offering the vaccine, or to find a specific provider, visit the state’s website at dhss.alaska.gov/dph/Epi/id/Pages/COVID-19/Vaccineappointments.aspx.
Where can you get the vaccine locally?
South Peninsula Hospital Call for an individual appointment for Pfizer vaccination at the Covid Vaccine and Test Clinic on Bartlett street. Walk-in vaccinations are available noon-5 p.m. daily. You can sign up at the hospital’s website, www.sphosp.org. Those without internet or who need assistance can call 907-435-3188.
Vaccines are not yet available through the hospital’s Homer Medical Center or South Peninsula Family Care Clinic. Anyone who has had their first dose of the vaccine does not need to call to schedule a second one. Their follow up dose was scheduled the day they got their first one.
The Safeway Pharmacy is offering vaccine appointments as doses are available. The store chain has partnered with the U.S. Department of Health and Social Services to provide vaccines to customers. To sign up for a vaccine through the Safeway Pharmacy, visit www.safeway.com/pharmacy/covid-19.html.
SVT Health & Wellness continues to offer vaccines to its patients as it receives allocations from the state. Patients can call 907-226-2228 to be put on a list to receive the vaccine. The health care provider is owned and operated by the Seldovia Village Tribe, but its clinics in Seldovia, Homer and Anchor Point serve the communities at large. The clinics welcome new patients; a medical visit is required to establish care through SVT Health & Wellness.
Kachemak Medical Group is offering the COVID-19 vaccine to people in the community, as it receives it allocations from the state. You do not have to be a current patient to receive it. To sign up for the vaccine, call Kachemak Medical Group at 907-235-7000 to be put on their list. As vaccine doses are received, the provider will call people and offer them appointments in the order they signed up. If the provider cannot reach a person on the list, they will go to the next name, but the person will remain on the list for a vaccine.
TC Community Clinic in Ninilchik is now offering the vaccine to anyone. Those interested can call 907-567-3970 to be put on the list to receive the vaccine.
Reach Michael Armstrong at marmstrong@homernews.com.
