DHSS Press Release: DHSS, Mat-Su Borough, and Mat-Su area community partners announce COVID-19 vaccine appointments for 65+ and health care workers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Elizabeth Manning, DHSS, 907-744-4512, elizabeth.manning@alaska.gov

DHSS, Mat-Su Borough, and Mat-Su area community partners announce COVID-19 vaccine appointments for 65+ and health care workers

January 8, 2020 ANCHORAGE — Today, the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS), the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, the DHSS Mat-Su Public Health Center, and community partners announced a COVID-19 point of dispensing (POD) vaccination clinic that will take place in the Mat-Su Borough at the Alaska State Fairgrounds’ Raven Hall. The clinic will be supported by the Mat-Su Borough Department of Emergency Services, the Mat-Su Community Emergency Response Team, Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, the Alaska State Fairgrounds, and the DHSS Mat-Su Public Health Center.

Appointments will be available on four separate days during the clinic to provide vaccines to Alaskans in Phase 1a and Phase 1b, Tier 1. This includes Alaskans 65 years and above, health care workers, long-term care facility residents and staff, and EMS personnel who meet certain criteria.

There will be approximately 2,500 appointments available on:

• Tuesday, Jan. 12 – 300 appointments
• Thursday, Jan. 14 – 600 appointments
• Tuesday, Jan. 19 – 800 appointments
• Thursday, Jan. 21 – 800 appointments

Individuals who are currently on the Mat-Su Public Health Center waitlist, which is approximately 1,000 individuals at this time, will be given priority for appointments. A secure registration link and information will be sent to those individuals on the Mat-Su Public Health Center waitlist who can begin registering at 10 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 11.

Open registration for all other eligible Alaskans will begin at 12 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 11 through the online scheduling system at covidvax.alaska.gov. A full list of who is currently eligible to receive the vaccine is also available on that website. If you need assistance scheduling, please leave a message at 907-646-3322. Someone will call you back to help schedule your appointment.

The POD will open for pre-scheduled appointments only. Walk-in vaccinations will not be available. The vaccine administered will be the Moderna vaccine, which requires a second dose 28 days later. An appointment for the second dose will be scheduled at the time of the first dose.  The second dose will also be administered at Raven Hall. 

If you know of a senior or someone who is eligible for vaccine, please offer them help. We’re all in this together. Our goal as a community and state is to get vaccine out quickly and equitably across the state, with eligibility going first to those most at risk and vulnerable to severe illness and death.

Vaccine supply remains limited. If more vaccine becomes available, additional clinics may be scheduled. Eligibility guidelines for future groups are still being determined. Learn more about the process for guidelines and how to participate at the Alaska Vaccine Allocation Advisory Committee information page. For more information, visit covidvax.alaska.gov.

 

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• DHSS_PressRelease_COVID-Mat-SuVaccines_20210108.pdf