Alaska Governor: Come One And All For Your COVID-19 Vaccines

[PeteS in CA]

Alaska Governor: Come One And All For Your COVID-19 Vaccines

https://hotair.com/archives/ed-morrissey/2021/03/10/alaska-governor-come-one-covid-19-vaccines/

How does #49 become #1? Simple – by cutting through the tiers, levels, conditions, and all other roadblocks to COVID-19 vaccinations. Alaska became the first state in the US to allow all residents 16 years and older to access the vaccines, regardless of their health or living conditions.

Governor Mike Dunleavy announced the change late last night:
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How did Alaska put itself in position to make this move, especially given the state’s legendary geographical challenges? It led the nation in vaccinations per capita, CNN reported yesterday, getting to a whopping 40 doses per 100 people as of the beginning of the week. Having a well-established infrastructure for rural healthcare helped, but the state also responded with alacrity to prepare for the needs of this particular pandemic response. However, that system also relies on established private or quasi-private distribution channels:

A localized approach to vaccination hasn’t worked everywhere, but it’s worked in Alaska, Zink said. The state distributes vaccines to different regions but doesn’t give directives, she said — it’s up to the communities to decide how to administer vaccines based on their needs.

“If you provide communities with the tools they need to protect themselves, they oftentimes are really able to do it,” she said.

Because so much power has been turned over to different regions of Alaska and the health care providers trusted in those areas, health care workers have been able to “meet people where they’re at,” Zink said: That means they’ll deliver vaccines by boat, dog sled, helicopters and small planes, or go door-to-door in small communities to vaccinate as many community members as possible.

“It’s really different across the state,” she said. “It’s highly reliant on local communities who know their system … way better than we (the state health department) do.”

Let local people use the resources they know best? So crazy it might even work!