A highly contagious variant is now responsible for an increase in cases and hospital stays nationwide in recent months – particularly in Alaska.
We continue to answer readers’ questions about what we know about the recent surge, when Alaskan residents can expect booster vaccinations, and how local health officials are responding. What would you like to know about COVID-19 in Alaska? Let us know in the form at the end of this story.
What do we know about the percentage of cases, hospital admissions, and deaths in Alaska that involve people who are vaccinated?
The most common COVID-related questions from Daily News readers over the past few weeks are the percentage of new virus cases, hospital admissions and deaths with vaccinated people compared to those with unvaccinated people and why the Daily News doesn’t report this information in Daily Viruses- Updates.
The simple answer is that the vaccination status of people who test positive for COVID-19 is not readily available when Alaska reports its data. While the state provides monthly breakdowns of vaccine breakthroughs and hospital stays, health officials say that because of the way data is reported to the state, there is no easy way to share this more detailed information on a daily basis.
“It would be amazing if there was just this database that, if you had a positive case, had all the information about whether you were vaccinated or not,” said Dr. Anne Zink, chief medical officer of Alaska, during a recent call.
In reality, “it takes our data team a lot of work to figure out if it was a vaccine breakthrough and what it looks like,” she said.
Zink advised Alaskans to instead look for longer-term data trends on vaccine breakthroughs, which are reported monthly. Data over time also generally tells a more accurate story, she said.
In this case, it continues to show that the vast majority of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in Alaska involve people who are not vaccinated.
Between January and the first week of September, 81% of cases in Alaska, 88% of virus-related hospital admissions, and 87% of deaths were in people who were not fully vaccinated.
When can Alaskans expect booster shots?
Alaska’s health officials announced earlier this week that they would prepare to introduce booster shots of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine as soon as they get the green light from the Food and Drug Administration. This approval could take place this week.
On Friday, a CDC committee advising the FDA voted to recommend a third vaccination of the Pfizer vaccine to be given at least six months after the second vaccination for adults aged 65 and over; are at high risk of serious illness from the virus; or are exposed to a high risk of exposure due to their work, e.g. B. Medical staff and emergency responders.
The advisory panel also voted on Friday not to approve a third dose for all Americans 16 and older after a long debate among members about whether Pfizer’s data warranted an additional vaccination when the vaccines were still highly effective against serious illnesses, hospital admissions and death appeared – many months after that too.
After that vote, the FDA is likely to make a final decision sometime this week. That means older and higher-risk Alaskans will likely have access to a booster shot soon, although it’s still up in the air and no schedule has been set.
“As a state, we have a booster response team and we are mobilizing many working groups across the state and with our partners to prepare for boosters and plan different scenarios, depending on what is ultimately approved by the CDC,” said Dr. Lisa Rabinowitz, an Alaskan Health Department doctor, on a call this week.
“We will continue to provide information about boosters and the details,” she said.
Some immunocompromised Alaskans are already eligible for a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine as part of their recommended series – these third vaccinations are considered separate from booster vaccinations and do not require proof of eligibility.
How Do Alaskan Doctors Deal With Vaccine Fertility Concerns?
The Daily News spoke to two doctors specializing in women’s reproductive health in Anchorage about how they have responded to patient concerns about the COVID-19 vaccines. These doctors said a little less than half of their pregnant patients and those trying to get pregnant are unvaccinated.
“We really take every opportunity on every visit to really encourage them to think about vaccination,” said Dr. Dana Espindola, a doctor at the Anchorage Women’s Clinic.
“It doesn’t seem likely, plausible, or even remotely reasonable that the vaccine could affect your fertility,” said Dr. Allison Gibbs, also OB / GYN of the Anchorage Women’s Clinic. “All of the information we have shows that it is safe, that it does not affect fertility, does not affect ovulation, and does not increase the risk of miscarriage,” she said.
However, pregnant women have an increased risk of serious illness from COVID-19, the CDC said.
“We are not concerned that the vaccine will cause problems during pregnancy, but we do have concerns that COVID-19 causes problems during pregnancy,” added Espindola.
Both doctors said they had unvaccinated patients who were hospitalized while pregnant with COVID-19. Both also said they had pregnant patients with COVID-19 who had to give birth to their babies prematurely because the baby was not doing well, and other pregnant COVID patients who had pneumonia and needed oxygen.
They said 100% of their patients hospitalized with COVID-19 had not been vaccinated.
What do we know about the few vaccinated people who are hospitalized with COVID-19?
Nationwide, unvaccinated people are about 17 times more likely to be hospitalized than vaccinated people. And once they are hospitalized, vaccines usually protect people from more serious effects.
Still, no vaccine is 100% effective, and a small minority of COVID-19 hospital admissions in Alaska involved people who were vaccinated and who later became very ill anyway.
In a recent phone call, Zink said that unvaccinated COVID-19 patients in Alaskan hospitals are much younger than those who have been vaccinated, have fewer underlying diseases, but still get seriously ill with the virus.
In one hospital in Anchorage, the average unvaccinated age was 44, compared to 66 for vaccinated patients, Zink said. Younger, unvaccinated people with COVID-19 also wait longer to receive hospital treatment.
“So it really becomes this two-world story,” she said.
In a week in late August, 26 of 136 COVID-positive people hospitalized in Alaska were vaccinated, according to the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association.
Of 33 COVID-19 patients in the intensive care unit, five were vaccinated. One out of 18 ventilators was vaccinated.
source https://www.bisayanews.com/2021/09/19/how-many-of-alaskas-cases-involve-people-who-are-vaccinated-when-can-alaskans-expect-booster-shots/
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