Alaska coronavirus Q&A: Do you need to bring proof of eligibility to your vaccine appointment?

Alaska this week dramatically broadened its COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to include at least 70,000 more Alaskans (according to one top health official’s best estimate). The newly eligible encompass a huge group that has so far signed up for their first vaccine dose in droves.

We’ve been closely following the twists and turns in the state’s sometimes-rocky vaccine rollout, and this week we’re continuing to dig into who’s now eligible for a shot and why, and how to secure an appointment.

Have a question of your own? Let us know in this form, or fill out the form at the bottom of this article.

Some of the state’s eligibility guidelines seem very broad. How do I know for sure if I’m currently eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine?

The vaccine is now available to a large crop of Alaskans, including educators of all ages, people 50 and older with a high-risk medical condition, front-line essential workers 50 and older and people living or working in congregate settings like shelters and prisons.

The state’s vaccine website — covidvax.alaska.gov — defines which high-risk health conditions, congregate settings, and “essential” jobs qualify you for a shot. That website also includes an eligibility quiz.

[Here’s who is eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in Alaska, and how to sign up for a shot]

But if you don’t have internet or are experiencing trouble navigating the site, there’s also a phone number you can call (907-646-3322) that’s staffed from 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. on weekends.

If you’re still not sure whether you qualify, health officials also said this week that their definition of front-line essential workers falls in line with federal guidance provided by Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

Those guidelines further break down which jobs currently qualify as essential, and can qualify you for a shot so long as you’re also 50 and older and work within 6 feet of other people. That guidance can be found on the state’s vaccine website.

How do I sign up for a shot? What do I do if there appear to be no open appointments?

Once you have confirmed your eligibility, there are a number of ways you can go about signing up for a vaccine appointment.

State officials say the best place to start is by visiting covidvax.alaska.gov or calling 907-646-3322 to receive help signing up for a shot.

A quick visit to anchoragecovidvaccine.org will show some of the vaccine appointments currently open statewide. Note that only about half of Alaska vaccine distributors use the state scheduling program, so that list will not show every open appointment in the state.

You can also visit anchoragecovidvaccine.org/providers to see the full list of providers offering vaccine statewide. In some cases, you’ll need to reach out to local providers directly to check whether they have appointments available and sign up.

Alaska will receive an additional 4,400 doses of vaccine in February from the federal pharmacy on top of the state allocation. Those shots will be available directly through Walmart and Fred Meyer. You can now visit the websites for Fred Meyer or Walmart to sign up through your local store.

Because appointments are limited and going quickly, and because the newly eligible group far outnumbers the amount of vaccine currently in the state, it’s possible that you won’t immediately be able to sign up for an appointment even though you’re eligible.

More appointments will be released regularly in the coming weeks, so officials are urging people to be patient and keep checking back. Some providers will also allow you to be added to their waitlists.

Because allocation numbers are population-based, state officials are discouraging Alaskans from signing up for appointments outside of the community or city they live in.

Many Alaskans may also qualify for separate vaccine allocations distributed and managed by Alaska’s tribal health system, from a local Veterans Affairs office, or the federal Department of Defense. If you receive services through these providers, contact them to learn more about COVID-19 vaccine eligibility.

You can also always reach out to your local public health center with questions.

How do I schedule my second appointment?

Because providers get the exact same number of second doses as first doses, second-dose appointments should be made directly with the clinic or provider that administered your first dose, health officials say. Don’t use the state scheduling site to make your second vaccine appointment.

Do you need proof of a medical condition from a doctor (or other eligibility evidence) to get a shot?

No. The current system is trust-based, and no doctor’s note or other proof of eligibility is being required at this time, state health officials said this week.

One of the high-risk health conditions is smoking. How much smoking places someone in this category?

Smoking is included on the list of health conditions that currently qualify someone as being at “high risk” of a severe coronavirus infection.

Joe McLaughlin, a top epidemiologist with the state health department, said this week that not enough data exists to say for sure how much a person needs to have smoked to be considered high risk.

But at least one recent study out of the Cleveland Clinic has looked at how many “pack-years” of smoking are associated with increased risk of illness from COVID-19, he said. (A pack-year equals 20 cigarettes smoked per day, for one year.)

That study found that every additional year of smoking put people at slightly increased risk for hospitalization, intensive care unit admission and death, McLaughlin said.

“So at the end of the day, people who have smoked more are at higher risk,” he said. “It seems to be an incremental increased risk over time: the more you smoked, the higher the risk.”

In terms of determining vaccine eligibility, McLaughlin said Alaskans “should use their best judgment.”

“Certainly someone who has smoked a handful of cigarettes in his life, no, we’re not considering them to be at an increased risk,” he said. “If you’re a chronic smoker, or you’ve been chronically exposed, we really want to make sure those people get vaccinated.”