School employees begin receiving coronavirus vaccine
HONOLULU — Educators and child care workers throughout the state have become eligible and started receiving coronavirus vaccinations.
Their status as front-line, essential workers allows educators to begin receiving vaccine shots under Phase 1B of the state’s distribution plan.
State Department of Education Deputy Superintendent Phyllis Unebasami said 18,200 education workers completed online forms saying they want to be vaccinated and that their the names were submitted to the state Department of Health.
The Health Department is sharing the list with medical providers who administer the vaccines. As of Friday, 9,000 names had been submitted to providers, Unebasami said. There are about 44,000 public school staff throughout the state including contract workers and casual hire employees.
Some private schools also submitted lists of employees who want to be vaccinated to the health department.
The DOE included all school workers in its priority list — from classroom teachers to school bus drivers, rather than favoring any job category. State-level education personnel and those who do not deal directly with the public are placed in a separate vaccination group with lower priority.
Alaska’s Pacific Islanders least likely to get vaccine
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Pacific Islanders and Native Hawaiians have been the groups hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic in Alaska, but state data show they are also the least likely to be vaccinated.
The state’s online vaccination tracker showed just 143 Alaska residents who identify as Pacific Islanders or Native Hawaiians were vaccinated out of 84,000 Alaska residents as of last Wednesday.
The figure indicates those in the islander population are about 10 times less likely to be vaccinated than the general population, while the most recent state data on mortality show Pacific Islanders and Native Hawaiians are 10 times more likely to die of COVID-19.
Alaska Natives also have experienced high rates of death and hospitalization from COVID-19. But in contrast to Pacific Islanders, they benefit from the tribal health system.
Health officials said they are working to correct the inequity, but the issue is complex and includes factors such as language. Some Pacific Islanders do not speak English as a first language, especially older adults who are currently eligible for vaccinations.
The state’s vaccination website does not offer translated information.
