Coronavirus vaccinations begin at Alaska’s Pioneer Home assisted living facilities

Staff and residents at three of Alaska’s state-run assisted living facilities on Friday began receiving COVID-19 vaccinations.

“We are all very excited to begin offering the vaccines at the state’s Pioneer Homes so our elders can be protected and get back to their normal lives,” said Heidi Hamilton, Pioneer Homes director, in a statement from the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services.

The state runs six homes serving nearly 500 Alaskans ages 60 and older. The first group to be vaccinated beginning Friday includes staff and residents of the Anchorage, Ketchikan and Palmer homes.

Fairbanks will begin next week, and Sitka and Juneau will have vaccinations the last week of December, with exact dates yet to be determined, the statement said.

Vaccinations will take place inside each of the homes.

Vaccination requires authorized consent from a resident or their representative. Staff also have the option of opting out of vaccination: The state has no plans to mandate vaccination, health officials have said.

The vaccine, developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, was approved for use last week by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the first doses have been administered nationwide.

Supply is limited, with the first doses being prioritized for those deemed most at risk: frontline health care workers and staff and residents of long-term care facilities.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that COVID-19 poses an especially high risk in elder-care facilities because they often involve congregate settings and residents who are particularly vulnerable to complications of the illness.

The New York Times reported recently that while infections associated with nursing homes made up about 7% of total COVID-19 cases, they accounted for 40% of U.S. deaths tied to the illness.

The homes enacted visitor bans in March, and most are currently closed to visitors due to high rates of virus spread in surrounding communities.

It was not clear when the homes would be allowed to reopen, but Dr. Anne Zink, the state’s chief medical officer, said it could be soon.

It will take five to six weeks from the time someone receives their first of two required vaccine doses until they develop maximum immunity from severe illness, she said.

Risk assessment is always a personal choice, given that no vaccine is 100% effective, she added.

Since the pandemic began, virus infections have been identified at a number of Pioneer Homes, and at least four residents have died.

While the vaccine has been safely administered to thousands of Americans nationwide this week, by Friday, three health care workers in Alaska had reported an allergic reaction.

[3rd Alaska health worker experiences adverse reaction to COVID-19 vaccine]

Protocols for monitoring and reporting for any adverse reactions would be followed at all Pioneer Homes, the statement said.