COVID19 – Page 18 – City and Borough of Juneau

More opportunities for ages 5-11 to get COVID-19 vaccine

The Juneau Public Health Center has added additional opportunities for kids ages 5-11 to get the two-dose Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. Sign up your child at juneau.org/vaccine or 586-6000.

Including tomorrow’s pediatric clinic, here are available times:

Thursday, November 11, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at Riverbend Elementary School
Tuesday, November 16, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Juneau Public Health Center
Tuesday, November 23, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Juneau Public Health Center

For parents who would like their child to receive a flu shot at the same time, the flu vaccine will also be available at these clinics, as an add-on.

Youth ages 5-11 must be accompanied by a parent/legal guardian or a caregiver. If a parent/legal guardian isn’t able to be there, a caregiver is required to bring a printed and completed parent permission form to the clinic appointment.

Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines for children on this CDC webpage or this Alaska Health and Social Services information sheet.

For more information, call 586-6000 or email [email protected], or call Juneau Public Health Center at 907-465-3353.

November 10th, 2021|

State reports eight new COVID-19 cases for Juneau

The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) reports eight new residents in the Juneau community identified with COVID-19 for November 10. According to Juneau Public Health, there are about 83 active cases. Of those, about 25 are age 18 or younger. There are currently five people with COVID-19 hospitalized at Bartlett Regional Hospital.

Statewide, DHSS reports 508 new people identified with COVID-19 – 501 are residents and seven are nonresidents. The state also reports nine recent deaths bringing the total number of resident deaths to 801:

Male Fairbanks resident in his 60s
Male Delta Junction resident in his 60s
Female Anchorage resident in her 70s
Male Anchorage resident in his 30s
Male Wasilla resident in his 50s
Male Anchorage resident in his 50s
Male Anchorage resident in his 60s
Female Wasilla resident in her 60s
Male Anchorage resident in his 60s

Alaska has had 138,983 cumulative resident cases of COVID-19 and a total of 5,317 nonresidents.

CBJ will not be issuing a COVID-19 case update tomorrow, November 11. The next one will be on Friday, November 12.

November 10th, 2021|

CBJ begins distributing at-home, rapid COVID-19 tests

The City and Borough of Juneau has started distributing rapid, over-the-counter, at-home COVID-19 tests to local organizations that serve community members who may otherwise struggle to obtain a COVID-19 test. So far, CBJ has received 5,000 tests from the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) through a federal allocation. CBJ expects to receive an additional 5,000 in the next 4-6 weeks. Here’s information and guidance from the CDC on self-testing.

These rapid, over-the-counter tests are antigen tests, which – while not as sensitive as PCR tests – are effective at detecting COVID-19 when it becomes transmissible. In addition to being significantly less expensive than processing PCR tests, antigen tests can be performed by individuals at home and results are given, similar to a pregnancy test. Here’s a resource from the CDC for all of the technical details of antigen testing.

Rapid antigen tests return results in about 15 minutes and are effective for use for individuals who are at all symptomatic – even with mild symptoms – or for individuals who have recently been in close contact with someone else who tested positive or was suspected to have COVID-19. Rapid antigen tests generally cannot be used to clear individuals for travel when destinations require travel-based testing; however, they can be used to prevent students from having to quarantine when they are an asymptomatic close contact to someone else who was positive for COVID-19. DHSS has more guidance for rapid antigen at-home COVID-19 tests here, or go to CBJ’s webpage.

Eventually, pending sufficient supply, CBJ intends to make rapid antigen test kits available for free to the community at large. During this initial period of lower supply, CBJ is limiting distribution to organizations that serve people who are less able or less likely to acquire a test through a local health provider, Capstone Clinic at the Juneau airport, or CBJ’s drive-thru testing site. These organizations initially include daycares, senior living facilities, low-income housing facilities, organizations that serve people experiencing disabilities or homelessness, food banks, some employers including restaurant/bar operators, and others. If your organization would like to request a supply of rapid antigen tests during this initial phase of distribution, please email [email protected].

Currently, CBJ is distributing the QuickVue At-Home OTC COVID-19 Test. Here’s an instructional video of how to use that particular test. Other test types/manufacturers may replace this type in the future.

The Juneau School District also has a supply of rapid, at-home COVID-19 tests. The district uses them as an option for students and staff who choose to follow a testing protocol rather than quarantine when they are exposed in a classroom or identified as a close contact.

For more information, contact CBJ Emergency Operations Center Incident Commander and Deputy City Manager Robert Barr at 907-586-5240 or [email protected], or email [email protected].

November 10th, 2021|

State reports seven new COVID-19 cases & one death for Juneau

The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) reports seven new residents in the Juneau community identified with COVID-19 for November 9. DHSS also reports one additional death of a Juneau resident due to COVID-19. A male Juneau resident in his 60s died outside Alaska in October. CBJ extends condolences to family members and friends of this individual. There are 16 total deaths associated with Juneau – 15 residents (three died out of state) and one nonresident (death occurred outside Juneau).

According to Juneau Public Health, there are about 74 active cases. Of those, about 18 are minors and very few cases are in individuals over the age 60. There are currently five people with COVID-19 hospitalized at Bartlett Regional Hospital. No one from the Juneau School District has tested positive for COVID-19 since yesterday.

Statewide, DHSS reports 388 new people identified with COVID-19 – 386 are residents and two are nonresidents. The state also reports 28 additional resident deaths discovered through death certificate review – one that occurred in August, 5 in September, and 22 in October – bringing the total number of resident deaths to 792.

Alaska has had 138,535 cumulative resident cases of COVID-19 and a total of 5,313 nonresidents.

Juneau vaccine update:

73.6 percent of the total population of Juneau has received at least 1 dose of vaccine and 69.7 percent has completed the vaccine series.
95 percent of the population in Juneau age 65+ has received at least one dose of vaccine and 92 percent has completed the vaccine series.

For more information, read CBJ’s Emergency Operations Center Reports here.

November 9th, 2021|

Pediatric COVID-19 vaccine clinics happening this week in Juneau; register your 5-11 year-old

COVID-19 vaccine clinics for kids ages 5-11 kicked off yesterday and continue today, November 9, and Thursday, November 11. Sign up your child for the two-dose pediatric Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at juneau.org/vaccine or 586-6000. There are still openings at these pediatric vaccine clinics:

Tuesday, November 9, 3:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. at Mendenhall River Community School
Tuesday, November 9, 3:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. at Dzantik’i Heeni Middle School
Thursday, November 11, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at Riverbend Elementary School

Pediatricians and nurses are administering the vaccinations in classrooms to provide a quiet and private setting for families and children. Each classroom will have one to two vaccine stations. Second dose clinics will take place end of November/early December.

Please note the following:

Flu vaccine will also be available, as an add-on, for parents who would like their child to receive a flu shot at the same time.
While all clinics are open to all Juneau children ages 5-11, more time per appointment has been allocated to the clinics at Mendenhall River and Riverbend. Parents of younger children (5-8), or any child who may need additional time, are encouraged to sign up for appointments at those locations.
Youth ages 5-11 must be accompanied by a parent/legal guardian or a caregiver. If a parent/legal guardian isn’t able to be there, a caregiver is required to bring a printed and completed parent permission form to the clinic appointment.
If you’re registering multiple children for the same clinic but are unable to get appointments at the same time, you can bring all of your children at any one child’s appointment time. Please still register each child who will be receiving a vaccine.

Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines for children on this CDC webpage or this Alaska Health and Social Services information sheet.

For more information, call 586-6000 or email [email protected].

November 9th, 2021|