When the coronavirus vaccine first became available to Alaskans 65 and up, there was a mad dash for appointments.
Susie Smalley, of Kenai, had the state’s website to book appointments open on the first day. It was a bit hectic.
“At the end of maybe 70 minutes or something it was all secured," she said. "Except it wasn’t, ’cause apparently there was some button that didn’t get pushed.”
Eventually, she secured an appointment. But many who didn’t get on the site that day had to wait for appointments to open up, as demand for the vaccine outpaced local supply.
Since then, things have mellowed for eligible Alaskans. Not only has the state streamlined its appointment booking site but the mad dash has slowed. As of Monday afternoon, there were over 260 open appointments for February clinics in Soldotna. Those appointments were first listed online Thursday.
Over 1,000 slots are open in Anchorage and there will be about 600 slots for an upcoming Homer clinic starting Tuesday.
Those openings don’t mean everyone who’s eligible is vaccinated. Rather, people might not know they can get the vaccine or are still having trouble signing up, said Bud Sexton, operations manager for the Kenai Peninsula Borough Office of Emergency Management.
“Our goal right now is to do as much outreach as we can so we can find out and determine if all of those individuals who are over 65 who would like to get a vaccine, we want to make sure that they get the information that there are appointments available right now," he said.
There are about 11,000 eligible seniors across the Kenai Peninsula Borough. Providers have vaccinated about 4,300 who are 60 and up — over two-thirds of the borough’s total vaccinated population.
State officials said population estimates might also include snowbirds, who may be getting vaccinated in the Lower 48 this winter.
Sexton doesn’t think the open slots are for lack of interest or any widespread anti-vaccine sentiment. Appointments are still getting booked, just at a slower pace.
Soldotna Professional Pharmacy co-owner Justin Ruffridge said people have been coming into the pharmacy and asking about available appointments.
“I think that slower pace is helpful so it doesn’t make people feel like they are panicked trying to get an appointment," he said. "Although, there is a bit of a time crunch just because these clinics are going to start here in the next seven to 10 days.”
The next eligibility tier in Alaska is for frontline essential workers 50 and older, including teachers and grocery store employees, and people who live and work in congregate settings, like correctional facilities and group homes.
Officials are waiting to open up that tier until they feel they’ve vaccinated a large chunk of eligible seniors.
“So when is that exact date? That’s hard to determine right now, and we’re in that evaluation process right now and we’ll continue to evaluate and outreach to make sure we can get all of those groups taken care of," Sexton said.
They’ll be reaching out to people who might have contact with seniors and will post materials in public locations. The borough also opened a call center for people who struggle with the booking technology.
Center volunteers were putting people on waitlists last month, when slots were full. Now, they can get them on the schedule right away.
“And so when we have vaccines that are available, it is just nice when somebody calls our call center and our volunteer says, ‘Well, I can help take care of that for you right now,’" Sexton said. "And there’s usually a lot of joy on the other end because they weren’t sure that there was an appointment available.”
Sexton thinks it’s a good sign that demand is slowing down. Ruffridge said the open slots show they’re over some sort of hill.
“Honestly, we’re a little bit surprised," he said. "I think there was a thought that we’d get one more month of a lot of interest from the senior population. And, so, being here already feels like a question mark but a good question mark, I think.”
For a list of available appointments and locations, visit anchoragecovidvaccine.org.
If you’re on the central peninsula, you can also call the borough’s call center at 262-4636. That center is staffed weekdays between 9 a.m. and noon.
