Have You Been Vaccinated?
- Thread starter Tudo
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moose eater
Well-known member
The stories I'd kept on my desktop have apparently been deleted.
They were printed in the Fairbanks Daily News Miner.
I'm finding more generic local stories at the moment in my searches, just to satisfy your insinuations of dishonesty. Which is offensive, by the way.
- Hundreds of hospital workers to arrive in Alaska
- Alaska has the highest Covid case rate in the nation
- Alaska reports more than 4,000 Covid cases this weekend
Alaska reported seven more deaths from Covid-19, five of them in the Fairbanks area, in addition to a soaring number of Covid-19 hospitalizations. Local and state health workers are providing medical care to patients despite limited space and resources — and aggressive responses from the public that include yelling and spitting.
The recent deaths included a Fairbanks woman in her 30s; two Fairbanks men, one in his 70s and the other his 80s; two North Pole residents in their 50s and 60s; as well as a Palmer man in his 70s and an Anchorage man in his 60s.
Violence toward health care workers
State health officials are “seeing and hearing more and more stories of violence toward health care workers,” putting the public health team “under attack,” state Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink said.
“We have had reports from health care providers who have spoken out at local meetings either being spit at or receiving threatening letters in the mail regarding their work or them sharing their medical input,” Zink said. “We’re seeing more aggression against pharmacies, and then when I think of a public health team, I think about not only our public health nurses, but I think about the calls and the emails and things that we get.”
Zink said that some pharmacists have stopped asking customers if they want a Covid-19 vaccine or not because people get angry hearing that question. Triage nurses in the emergency department are also afraid to ask if patients are vaccinated or have Covid because patients become violent toward them.
Regional nurse Sarah Hargrave said, “We’ve had public health nurses followed out of community meetings, being yelled at. We’ve had one of our public health centers vandalized this week. There are a number of things going on that just aren’t true to the spirit of Alaskans, and we know Alaskans can do better than that.”
At the same time, director of Public Health Heidi Hedberg said some Alaskans are helping health care workers feel appreciated.
Sarah Martin, chief nursing officer, said that FMH workers are grateful “for every single visitor that comes in the building, everyone that’s here to support us and has sent chocolates and food.”
More patients at FMH
Fairbanks Memorial Hospital continues seeing an increased number of patients, mostly the unvaccianted, who tend to be sicker and younger, said Dr. Angelica Ramirez, chief medical officer of Foundation Health Partners.
Patients experience long wait times in the first care and emergency departments — four or five hours of wait time is not uncommon, said Dr. Peter Dillon, the medical director with Tanana Valley Clinic.
Hospitalist Dr. Owen Hanley said that from a personal standpoint, Covid is a really hard disease “to watch people go through.” At some point, he and a nurse had to hold the hand of a patient that they took off a breathing machine while his family was on FaceTime.
“He had a bunch of kids that are the same ages as my kids, saying ‘I love you daddy,’” he said. “This is a guy that’s the same age as me.”
Tired employees
Martin added that employees work difficult hours to respond to the growing need for care.
“We really really really want to tell you that we’re tired, and that in all honesty, we’re sad, the things that are happening in our hospital and in our community are really difficult,” Martin said. “Our staff are working day and night round the clock, they’re changing their hours, they’re flexing their child care needs. They’re working nights, weekends, holidays, really to try and keep each and every one of you safe.”
The medical facilities have recently have hired paramedics, Covid relief physicians and non-clinicians. They also put in a request for multiple nurses to the state in light of more nurses arriving in Alaska.
Scrambling for space in the hospital
The medical centers have also made changes to be able to respond to the surge and prepare for a worsening situation.
First, they are recovering patients in the preoperative care area rather than admitting them to an inpatient bed. That area also now serves as the surge ICU space. Most Covid cases are treated in the Medical Unit 2 south, which has become the Covid unit and has been full several times.
“So this is pretty unusual that one disease process would take up an entire wing of the hospital,” Hanley said. “This isn’t even to mention all the other patients that need care.”
At Tanana Valley Clinic, the hospital has “multiple folks stacked in on top of each other in offices,” Dillon said. “We’ve crammed extra computers and desks into places, made exam rooms out of what was an ultrasound room or closet.”
Ramirez said the hospital hasn’t been able to keep up with the monoclonal antibody infusions in terms of space. Now, the lobby space of the surgery tower is functioning as an infusion room, and the hospital is offering the procedure seven days a week.
In addition, the hospital prepared a large meeting room on the first floor of our facility, to be able to serve as a board, if needed.
“But at the end of the day, even though we’re giving infusions in a lobby, even though we may have beds in a meeting room on 2 South, we’re still meeting standard of care,” Ramirez said.
“We are doing our best,” Ramirez added. “But there is a limit to how much we can do and how many people we can care for. And so, it is vaccination, it is masking. I know nobody wants to hear it. We’re all tired of it too, but we really need everybody’s help.”
moose eater
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Covid infections are on a slight rise again
- Alena Naiden
- Oct 16, 2021 Updated Nov 20, 2022
Alaska’s Covid-19 cases are slightly increasing again.
This week the state has seen 14% more cases than last week, according to the Department of Health and Social Services. Mirroring the state trend, weekly cases in the Fairbanks North Star Borough dropped after Sept. 30 but have been teetering on the brink of up since.
“We were hoping to kind of see more of a downward trend, but it’s a little bit more of a flat trend across the state of Alaska,” State Chief Medical Officer Anne Zink said Thursday. “We still have work to do to push those numbers down.”
Two Fairbanks Memorial Hospital patients, ages 42 and 66, died from Covid on Wednesday and Thursday.
Additionally, the state reported Thursday two recent local deaths — a Fairbanks man in his 70s and a Fairbanks man in his 50s. Three more Alaska deaths were reported on Friday.
FMH stays full, and Covid patients constituted 33% of all Friday hospitalizations. The ages of patients range from their 20s to 80s. Statewide, hospitals have a total of 220 current Covid-related hospitalizations — 16.9% of all patients.
State epidemiologist Joe McLaughlin said that “as soon as we do start to see a notable decline in cases, then we expect that we will see a common decrease in hospitalizations.”
State epidemiologist Louisa Castrodale added that there is usually a lag between changes in cases and hospitalizations trends, so “when the case numbers start coming down, it would take a little bit of time for the hospitalizations to flatten out.”
Alaska reported 964 cases on Wednesday and 984 new cases on Thursday, according to the DHSS.
“So still a lot of people getting sick with Covid-19 these days,” Zink said.
Case counts
On Thursday, Fairbanks reported 89 cases, and North Pole reported 28. Seven more were identified in two communities in the Fairbanks North Star Borough, while the Southeast Fairbanks Census Area reported one. In Denali Borough, there were two more cases, and another one happened were in Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area. Meanwhile, Anchorage reported 353 new infections, Wasilla 98, Eagle River 53, Northwest Arctic Borough 42, Palmer 42 and Bethel Census Area 31.
Out of 986 cases on Wednesday, Fairbanks reported 69, North Pole 29, Delta Junction five, Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area five in four communities and Southeast Fairbanks Census Area reported one. The highest Wednesday counts were reported by Anchorage with 386 cases, Wasilla with 118, Palmer with 56, Kodiak 32, Eagle River 27, Juneau 25 and Soldotna with 25.
The week of Oct. 3, Alaska reported 21.4% fewer Covid cases than the week before. The case numbers appeared to have plateaued statewide, according to the weekly DHSS report. However, the decrease does not reflect the true trajectory of Covid-19 cases, the report said. There is still a large number of backlogged cases to count.
“Regardless of the trajectory, intense community transmission is continuing to occur and is causing significant illness, death, and demand on the health care system,” the report said.
If you received two doses of Pfizer vaccines more than six months ago, you might be eligible for the third dose. People 65 years old and above, residents and staff at long-term facilities, adults with underlying health conditions or those working in high-risk environments can receive a booster shot. Health officials are discussing offering booster shots of the Moderna vaccine and mixed doses of Pfizer and Moderna, as well as offering vaccination to children aged 5 to 11.
moose eater
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Pandemic bringing more infections, hospitalizations and deaths to Alaska
- Alena Naiden
- Aug 25, 2021 Updated Sep 30, 2022
Alaska has reported more Covid-19 infections, hospitalizations and 24 new Covid-19 deaths this week, including four in Fairbanks.
“This is hard. I think we all wish that Covid was over a while ago,” state Chief Medical Officer Anne Zink said during a Wednesday public meeting. “But this is not going to last forever.”
Among 24 deaths reported on Monday and Tuesday, an Anchorage woman in her 60s died from Covid recently. The remaining 23 deaths were identified through the death certificate review process, according to the Department of Health and Social Services.
“We do have a lot of deaths, unfortunately, that we’re reporting this week,” Zink said. “Part of it has been that, because of the cyber attack, our data system has been down, limiting our ability to look at death certificates that are reported.”
The deaths added from the past months included two Fairbanks women, one in her 60s and one in her 70s, as well as a man over 80 years old who lived in Southeast Fairbanks Census Area. A non-resident woman in her 40s and a non-resident man his 60s died in Fairbanks as well.
Other deceased were nine Anchorage residents, three people in Sodotna, three in Homer, one in Wasilla, one in Anchor Point and one in Northwest Arctic Borough resident.
The youngest of the deceased was in his 30s and the oldest was over 80. The majority of deaths — about 60% — were among people older than 70.
Hospitalizations
The state currently has 130 people with active Covid in hospitals, 28 of them on ventilators. Covid patients take up around 12% of all of our hospitalizations.
“This may not represent people who have Covid but are no longer infectious but are still suffering from consequences of Covid,” Zink added.
At Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, out of 65 patients on Wednesday, eight were receiving care for Covid-19 and one was waiting for test results, according to Kelly Atlee, communications director at Foundational Health Partners. She said that out of 13 ICU beds, four were available.
The youngest FMH Covid-19 patient was less than 1 year old, while the rest ranged between 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s. Vaccination status of the patients was not available
Zink said that while deaths mostly happen among older Covid patients, younger patients might stay hospitalized for a month, “taking a lot of resources within the hospital.”
New infections
Alaska reported 620 new Covid-19 infections on Tuesday and 593 on Monday, with case counts coming back up after numbers dropped a little over the weekend.
“We continue to have a lot of cases in the state,” Zink said. “I think the overall trend is pretty clear. We got a lot of Covid spreading, and a lot of places are exposed, all across the state.”
Locally, Fairbanks reported 96 cases over two days and North Pole reported 26. Four cases were reported in Delta Junction, three in Salcha, three in Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area. Ester, Denali Borough, Fairbanks North Star Borough and Southeast Fairbanks Census Area reported one case each. For more information about Covid cases, go to dhss.alaska.gov.
Overall, this week, the state case count was 19% higher than the week before.
“A lot of this is being driven by the Delta variant, which has become the predominant variant, not only in the state but the country and worldwide,” Zink said.
Vaccine breakthroughs
Up to Aug. 14, seven deaths, 62 hospitalizations, and 2,883 cases were reported among fully vaccinated Alaska residents, which is 6% of all deaths, 8% of all hospitalizations and 9% of all cases, according to the weekly report from the department.
“While (the vaccine) is not perfect — we still see vaccine breakthrough cases, we see vaccine hospitalizations, we see deaths — it still is doing an amazing job at tempering the surge, minimizing the surge on people getting sick, hospitalized and dying,” Zink said.
Vaccinations
As of Wednesday, 60% of Alaskans age 12 and older have received at least their first vaccine dose, according to the report. Additionally, the vaccination rates for young Alaskans have picked up.
While elderly people are more vulnerable to Covid-19, Zink said that children do get sick, hospitalized and die from this virus too.
“Vaccines are our best way to keep diseases away from our children but it also helps to protect community as a whole,” she said. “Our children don’t live in isolated bubbles outside of their parents, grandparents and potentially at-risk siblings and the rest, so being able to minimize their impact helps to protect the whole family.”
While the pandemic is still spiraling up, Zink encouraged “Alaskans to continue to have space and grace with each other, and kindness and hope,” and to consider reaching out to someone who might need support.
“Maybe it’s a kid who’s going back to school for the first time, maybe it’s a nurse who has been really struggling,” Zink said. “Maybe it’s someone who does not want to get vaccinated and feels like they are just getting pushed and pulled from every direction, and offering compassion to them and hearing their thoughts and questions.”
moose eater
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Fairbanks man dies of Covid, virus continues to spread in Interior
- Alena Naiden, [email protected]
- May 6, 2021 Updated Jun 23, 2021
A Fairbanks man in his 20s has died from Covid-19, state health officials reported Thursday, as local virus transmission rates continue to lead the state.
On Thursday alone, more than one-fourth of all Alaskan cases — 22 total — were registered in the Fairbanks North Star Borough. Most of the people contracting the virus are in their 20s and 30s, according to the state Covid-19 Case Dashboard.
“While a lot of folks in our community have moved on beyond Covid, we haven't and our staff hasn’t,” said Shelley Ebenal, executive director at Foundation Health Partners. “We are not out of Covid. I know our community is tired, and I know they don't want to wear a mask, and I know they want this to be over, and that’s great; I get it. But it’s not.”
During the last week of April, cases jumped up by 13% in Fairbanks, while most Alaska regions reported a decrease in the spread of the disease. For comparison, the Fairbanks case rate was at 50%, and besides second-worst Mat-Su region, the rate was below 20% everywhere else in Alaska.
Besides the dire virus transmission in the Fairbanks region, Fairbanks Memorial Hospital is experiencing a crisis too. A record number of Covid patients, a lack of equipment needed to treat them, staff shortages and the hospital nearing bed capacity are among the issues health officials are sharing.
The three-day average of Covid patients is at 14 — one of the highest numbers the borough has seen. In the beginning of April, that number was three. From 13 ICU beds available, nine were occupied on Thursday; from 56 regular beds, 51 were taken.
FHP Chief Medical Officer Dr. Angelique Ramirez recently said that the case rate increase might be caused by a set of issues, including the spread of the more transmissible B11.7 variant originally registered in the United Kingdom. However, the low vaccination rate is the issue she highlighted the most for Fairbanks. The region stays at the bottom in the vaccination rates across the state.
“The least immunized communities are the communities that have the highest case rates,” Ramirez said.
So far, more than half of all adults in Alaska received one dose of the vaccine. To analyze how many more people will get vaccinated, state health professionals surveyed more than 1,000 Alaskans. Nearly half of responders said that they had not received the Covid-19 vaccine or booked an appointment, and half of those said they aren’t planning to. Around 22% of responders were unsure.
The main reasons for not planning to get vaccinated were the idea that the person wasn't prone to get sick from the virus, that the vaccines can be unsafe in the short or long term, and that the vaccines were developed too quickly.
Fairbanks is hosting several vaccination events this weekend where people can ask their questions about the vaccine, share their concerns and see what their health providers have to say.
Friday
• Vax clinic at the reopening of Regal Goldstream & IMAX, 1855 Airport Way, 3-9 p.m.
Saturday
• J.P. Jones Community Center, 2400 Rickert St., 1-5 p.m.
• Saturday's Ice Dogs hockey game at the Big Dipper, 1920 Lathrop St., 6-9 p.m.
moose eater
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COVID cases double in Delta Junction area, Fairbanks death reported
- By Alena Naiden, [email protected]
- Mar 19, 2021 Updated Apr 7, 2021
While more vaccine appointments open locally, a Fairbanks man reportedly died from the COVID-19 virus and the Interior region around Delta Junction saw its cases more than double last week.
The two-week daily case rate jumped from 13 to 30 in the Interior region except in Fairbanks, according to the weekly case update from the Department of Health and Social Services. This means that for 100,000 people, 30 are transmitting the virus.
Health officials say the increase is happening in the Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, home to more than 7,000 Alaskans.
“The larger jump up there is really with Delta Junction and some of the surrounding areas,” said Loisa Castrodale, an epidemiologist with Alaska’s Division of Public Health. “We are still working on cases that are being reported in that area. I think there is some school activity, I think there is some work-place activity, so still working on that. But it’s definitely been increasing over the last two weeks.”
On Wednesday alone, Delta Junction registered three new cases, Tok reported two, and four were registered elsewhere in the Southeast Fairbanks Census Area.
Meanwhile, Fairbanks reported 11 new cases and North Pole reported six. One more person contracted the virus in Fairbanks North Star Borough, where the average case rate dropped from 15.1 to 13.7 by last week.
In other places in the Interior, five new people tested positive for the coronavirus in the Denali Borough for the past week. This is a big jump from previous weeks.
Across the state, averages stayed similar to the week before.
“We’ve really kind of been flat, with maybe just a slight uptick,” state Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink said during a Thursday news conference. “That’s made up from some areas declining and some increasing.”
The state announced three deaths identified through death certificate reviews, one of them in Fairbanks. All three deaths were of people in their 80s, bringing the death toll in Alaska to 306.
Zink said that more deaths are “a stark reminder that this is not over” and officials need “to continue to find ways to protect people.”
All Alaskans over 16 are eligible to get a COVID-19 vaccine in Fairbanks, and more than 800 new appointments opened Thursday at covidvax.alaska.gov. To get the vaccine through the Tanana Chiefs Conference, go to www.tananachiefs.org/vaccine-request. Other locations around Fairbanks that are administering the vaccine include Costco, Safeway at University Avenue, Fred Meyer West, Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, Fairbanks Cancer Care Physicians, Chena Health and Walmart.
Across the state, more than a third of adult Alaskans and almost 70% of seniors received at least one shot, according to the state’s vaccine dashboard.
To reach herd immunity — and a natural decrease in incidents of coronavirus — 70% to 80% of people need to be vaccinated or overcome the virus, said state epidemiologist Joe McLaughlin.
“I’m very hopeful that we can achieve that level of herd immunity in Alaska,” he added.
moose eater
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John Martin passed away on Nov. 29, 2021, from pneumonia complicated by Covid-19.
He was born in Dallas, Texas, on Sep. 28, 1968, and therefore a lifelong Dallas Cowboys fan. Any howling winds heard on Sunday may well be John cheering the ‘Boys on.
John grew up in Fairbanks graduating from Lathrop with a GED. John enlisted in the Air Force after high school and was stationed in Minot, South Dakota, the armpit of the world as he would say. John learned construction with his stepfather, Dick Pusti, and excelled in this field to become project manager for several companies in Fairbanks and Anchorage. Of late, he had accepted a job to build the new intercontinental bridge between Detroit and Toronto, Canada. His work meant a lot to him in that he was very invested in his employees’ achievements and the overall accomplishments of the companies he worked for. Ethics were a very important part of his life, often setting him at odds with some. But he was true to himself.
Other than work and football, hockey took center stage in John’s growth in Fairbanks. A fan of the Ice Dogs and the Nanooks, he could be seen at every game he could attend. He was in youth hockey and up into men’s leagues playing goalie until his knees objected. But the sport always held a special place in his heart.
John’s real accomplishment was to raise two very wonderful kids. He was always telling stories which impressed on the listener his true love and pride in both Rene and Jonathan. Rene enlisting in the Air Force and then became a corrections officer, making John swell with joy. Jonathan followed his father’s foot steps into construction, growing and becoming a man with his own fine handle on work and life. Both are a credit to the love and security their dad gave them.
John is preceded in death by his father John Freeman Martin, his mother Judith Louise Pusti and his brother Jeffery Harrison McKnight. He is survived by his daughter Rene Destiny Shipley of Anchorage, his son Jonathan Bailey Jordan Martin of Anchorage, his son Trevor Martin of Minot, South Dakota, step siblings Connie and Matthew Martin of Salem, Oregon, his brother William David McKnight of Fairbanks.
John will have military honors at Elmendorf Air Force Base. The time and place of this ceremony are to be announced.
He was born in Dallas, Texas, on Sep. 28, 1968, and therefore a lifelong Dallas Cowboys fan. Any howling winds heard on Sunday may well be John cheering the ‘Boys on.
John grew up in Fairbanks graduating from Lathrop with a GED. John enlisted in the Air Force after high school and was stationed in Minot, South Dakota, the armpit of the world as he would say. John learned construction with his stepfather, Dick Pusti, and excelled in this field to become project manager for several companies in Fairbanks and Anchorage. Of late, he had accepted a job to build the new intercontinental bridge between Detroit and Toronto, Canada. His work meant a lot to him in that he was very invested in his employees’ achievements and the overall accomplishments of the companies he worked for. Ethics were a very important part of his life, often setting him at odds with some. But he was true to himself.
Other than work and football, hockey took center stage in John’s growth in Fairbanks. A fan of the Ice Dogs and the Nanooks, he could be seen at every game he could attend. He was in youth hockey and up into men’s leagues playing goalie until his knees objected. But the sport always held a special place in his heart.
John’s real accomplishment was to raise two very wonderful kids. He was always telling stories which impressed on the listener his true love and pride in both Rene and Jonathan. Rene enlisting in the Air Force and then became a corrections officer, making John swell with joy. Jonathan followed his father’s foot steps into construction, growing and becoming a man with his own fine handle on work and life. Both are a credit to the love and security their dad gave them.
John is preceded in death by his father John Freeman Martin, his mother Judith Louise Pusti and his brother Jeffery Harrison McKnight. He is survived by his daughter Rene Destiny Shipley of Anchorage, his son Jonathan Bailey Jordan Martin of Anchorage, his son Trevor Martin of Minot, South Dakota, step siblings Connie and Matthew Martin of Salem, Oregon, his brother William David McKnight of Fairbanks.
John will have military honors at Elmendorf Air Force Base. The time and place of this ceremony are to be announced.
moose eater
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Pandemic death toll jumps as previous fatalities IDed
- Alena Naiden, [email protected]
- Jan 21, 2021 Updated Feb 23, 2021
While state vaccinations are rapidly ramping up, Alaska reported 24 new COVID-19 related deaths Wednesday, bringing the state death toll to 251.
The state of the virus
A North Pole woman in her 70s died recently from COVID-19, and a North Pole man in his 80s passed away from the virus in the past several months, according to the news release from the Department of Health and Social Services
The other 22 recently reported deaths happened across the state over the past several months: nine in Anchorage, three in Kodiak and Wasilla each, two in Bethel and Palmer each, and one in Eagle River, Homer and in Kenai each.
State officials also reported on Wednesday 167 new people identified with COVID-19 in Alaska. Locally, Fairbanks saw 20 more new cases, North Pole saw six, and one case was registered somewhere else in the Fairbanks North Star Borough.
Among other Alaska locations with a high number of new cases, 49 new people tested positive in Anchorage, 22 in Wasilla and 11 in the Kusilvak Census Area.
The state of vaccinations
In good news, Alaska now counts more people who received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine than residents who tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, according to another news release from the department.
Reported to date, there have been 59,392 COVID-19 vaccinations and 50,732 Alaska resident COVID-19 cases, according to the department’s website.
As of Wednesday, Alaska is also ranked first among states for the percentage of people per capita who have been given at least one shot.
“The pandemic is not yet over, but we wanted to celebrate this milestone achievement in our fight to defeat COVID-19,” Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink said in the release. “We have teamwork and many Alaskans to thank for how quickly we’ve been able to vaccinate our most vulnerable residents.”
Of almost 51,000 state vaccinations, only 13,270 people received two doses of the vaccine. Dr. Zink said that while it’s important to celebrate successes, Alaskans should continue following the precautions in the light of high virus transmission.
“Until we can protect more people through vaccination, we can all — including those who have been vaccinated — help keep the virus under control,” she said. “Keep wearing masks, maintain physical distance from others, keep your social circles small, get tested if you feel sick or may have been exposed, and when it’s your turn to do so, please consider getting vaccinated.”
moose eater
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Eight Alaskans die due to COVID complications; risk of infection while traveling increases during holiday season
- Alena Naiden, [email protected]
- Dec 4, 2020 Updated Feb 23, 2021
Eight more Alaskans died from COVID-19 virus Thursday and 760 new people were identified with the disease in the highest reported daily case count so far.
Four of the deaths were Anchorage men in their 70s, two people were in their 80s, a woman in Bethel was in her 50s and a man in his 30s was living in the Kusilvak Census Area.
Fairbanks saw 17 new cases today, while Anchorage, Wasilla and Kodiak reported the highest number of cases — 272, 160 and 57, respectively.
The Department of Health and Social Services reported 15 new hospitalizations with COVID-19 patients, with the percentage of patients currently hospitalized being 13.6%.
Travel becoming more and more dangerous as well. For the last week of airport data reported, about 1 in 20 passengers tested after arriving at Alaska airports from out of state were positive for the virus causing COVID-19.
“Anytime you’re gonna mix with other people I wouldn’t call it safe,” chief epidemiologist Joe McLaughlin said, adding that the danger of it depends on your route, how much time are you going to spend in the airport and how much you will interact with other people. “It really comes down to a numbers game.”
The state’s chief medical officer, Anne Zink, reminded Alaskans that with winter holidays approaching the appeal of spending time with friends and extended family grows, and so does the danger of doing that.
“This is the time oftentimes of gathering and connecting, it’s my favorite time of year in the state, but we know that when we gather in indoor places without a mask and in close contact to each other, that’s when COVID spreads.”
Besides suggesting Alaskans wear masks, stay six feet away from each other and get tested if they experience any symptoms or think they’ve been exposed to the virus, health officials are speaking more and more about the upcoming vaccines — and the decision whether to get vaccinated, a decision that each Alaskan will need to make for themselves.
While no vaccine is available yet, two vaccines are under review, and “we are getting quite close to limited availability in the state,” Zink said.
After the Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Tuesday their guidelines to start vaccinating health workers and people 65 and older, Alaskan health officials met Thursday to discuss who will receive the vaccine first in the state. As of 6 p.m. Thursday, the results of that conversation have not been announced.
The guidelines state officials will provide still leave the room for local officials to adjust the vaccine distribution to the specific needs of their population.
While the small amount of vaccine doses in early winter will be distributed only to a limited population, officials hope for more doses to become available as time progresses, with production catching up and other companies developing and approving more vaccine versions.
One of the concerns about the vaccine effectiveness is whether it will adjust to the constantly mutating COVID-19 virus.
Epidemiologist Anna Frick explained that “the virus is using spike protein to get into cells,” and experts don’t see that part of the virus changing that much. Current vaccines target the spike protein, so while the virus is constantly changing, the vaccine target seems to stay the same, ensuring its effectiveness.
moose eater
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New deaths reported as virus cases rise in Alaska
- Erin McGroarty [email protected]
- Oct 28, 2020 Updated Nov 13, 2020
Another resident of the Fairbanks Pioneers’ Home has died from COVID-19.
This is according to an email the facility sent to families of the center’s residents Monday.
State health officials reported two new deaths of Alaskans, also linked to COVID-19. One of the deaths was that of a man in his 90s from Fairbanks. It remains unclear whether this death is the same as the death reported by the Fairbanks Pioneers’ Home. The second death reported by state health officials was an Anchorage man in his 80s.
The two new fatalities reported by the health department bring the state’s coronavirus death toll to 70.
Also Tuesday, state health officials reported 61 new cases of the disease among residents of the Fairbanks North Star Borough — 46 from Fairbanks, nine from North Pole and six from elsewhere in the borough.
Another 146 of Tuesday’s cases involved Anchorage residents. The rest were scattered across the state and involved three nonresidents, two of whom testing positive in Wasilla.
Nine more Alaskans have been hospitalized with cases of COVID-19. Currently, there are 57 confirmed COVID-19 patients hospitalized statewide and another 24 hospital patients who are under investigation and await test results. Eight of these patients are currently on ventilators, according to the state.
The state of Alaska reported 526 cases on Sunday, marking a new record for highest daily case count. Community transmission has been identified as increasing in much of the state. The state has seen more than 13,000 cases of COVID-19.
Local response
The Interior Alaska COVID-19 Unified Command — a collection of the three local mayors, health workers and other officials in the Fairbanks area — has extended the lease on the Carlson Center as a potential overflow medical center should COVID-19 hospitalizations surge and additional space be required.
While the Fairbanks North Star Borough’s resident case count has jumped by 242 in the last week, city of Fairbanks Mayor Jim Matherly has said he will not implement a city-wide mask mandate as some are calling for.
City of Fairbanks Communications Director Teal Soden cited a lack of enforcement capabilities as one of the
reasons Matherly chose not to implement such a policy. Currently, all city of Fairbanks employees in all city facilities are required to wear masks.
The city has opened a new free COVID-19 testing station in the parking area of the city of Fairbanks Public Works property at 2121 Peger Road. The station will be open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Residents should call (907) 452-1776 to register for a test.
A total of 577,429 tests have been performed statewide to date.
Legislative response
A group of state lawmakers sent a letter to Gov. Mike Dunleavy Tuesday calling for an extension of the state’s COVID-19 emergency declaration which is set to expire Nov. 15.
Fairbanks Democratic Reps. Grier Hopkins and Adam Wool signed the letter.
The group of 15 House members urged the governor to call the Legislature into a special session to extend the public health emergency declaration which would give the state easier leeway to implement health mandates and make health policy decisions in a more timely manner than without a declaration.
“We are gravely concerned about the recent increase in active cases of COVID-19 and the ongoing stress this is putting on our neighbors, our state, and economy,” the letter reads. “We are experiencing a surge in cases like no other time during this pandemic. In March we had dozens of new cases every day and now we have ten times that with 353 new cases Saturday and 526 cases Sunday, we are seeing new records for our state. This should be a call to action.”
Dunleavy has not signaled whether he will extend the emergency declaration but rolled back the state’s pandemic-related travel restrictions last month.
moose eater
Well-known member
Here ya' go. I had to look. It's a good thing I'm not working on an hourly wage in order to satisfy your denial and suspicions. You'd be broke.
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Paul Varelans fights an opponent in Kiev, Ukraine, in March 1996. Courtesy Robin Postell
Paul Varelans squares off against his opponent at UFC7 in 1995. Courtesy Robin Postell
Paul Varelans fought against Brazilian Marco "King of the Streets" Ruas in the UFC7 fight in 1995. Courtesy Robin Postell
Paul at the press conference for UFC V1 in Casper, Wyoming, in the summer of 1995. Courtesy Robin Postell
UFC fighter and famed Fairbanks martial artist Paul Varelans dies of COVID-19
- By Alena Naiden, [email protected]
- Jan 22, 2021 Updated Jan 22, 2021
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Paul Varelans fights an opponent in Kiev, Ukraine, in March 1996. Courtesy Robin Postell
- Picasa
Paul Varelans squares off against his opponent at UFC7 in 1995. Courtesy Robin Postell
Paul Varelans fought against Brazilian Marco "King of the Streets" Ruas in the UFC7 fight in 1995. Courtesy Robin Postell
Paul at the press conference for UFC V1 in Casper, Wyoming, in the summer of 1995. Courtesy Robin Postell
- Picasa
- A 51-year-old Fairbanks mixed martial artist, Paul Varelans, died Saturday after a month of battling COVID-19. Varelans, who grew up in Fairbanks, was a pioneer in the Ultimate Fighting Championship known as “The Polar Bear.” “He is the greatest fighter that came out of Alaska,” his friend, Sven Holmberg, said. “He is legendary.”
- On Dec. 12, Varelans shared on his Facebook page that he contracted COVID-19. “Best way I can compare the feel of COVID-19 in my experience is, it’s like fighting a guy who specializes in kidney punches,” he wrote on Dec. 13. “They never stop.”
Varelans’ long-time girlfriend, Kim Watson, who lived with him in Atlanta for the past two years, said that shortly after Varelans tested positive, his symptoms worsened, and she called an ambulance for him on Dec. 15.
“Of course he didn’t want to go to the hospital,” she said. “He was pretty coherent — he asked for his charger and things like that — but he was in a very bad shape.”
At Emory University Hospital Midtown, Varelans was put on a ventilator and later into a medically induced coma with a goal to slowly bring him back up, Watson said.
But Varelans’ health kept declining, his friend Shane Viens wrote in a Facebook message to the News-Miner. Viens said that even though “some days seemed like he was going to pull through,” Varelans was fighting infection after infection that kept his heart from stabilizing, and doctors couldn’t bring him up safely.
On Jan. 15, Watson received a call from doctors saying that Varelans doesn’t have much time left. She came to the hospital and called Varelans’ mother and a couple of friends, including Viens.
“I stayed up all night,” Viens said. “His girlfriend was here and held the phone up to him so I could tell him I loved him one last time.”
Varelans died on Saturday after battling the disease for 31 days and leaving a lot of people heartbroken, Watson said.
“He had a colorful interesting life. I wouldn’t call it ordinary,” Watson said. “And he affected a lot of people.”
In his professional life, Varelans was one of the most popular figures from the early days of the UFC, according to the UFC website. He suffered nine losses and earned nine wins, consistently beating fighters like Cal Worsham, Mark Hall and Joe Moreira.
While Varelans lost to other athletes, some of his defeats would also leave a mark on the sport. In his 1996 UFC7 match, a smaller fighter, Marco Ruas, defeated Varelans using leg kicks, showing the effectiveness of the technique for the first time, Viens said.
As a fighter, Varelans was known for his size. Standing 6 feet, 8 inches tall and weighing over 350 pounds, Varelans needed the UFC to redesign the octagon cage to accommodate him.
“Paul was the original big man of the UFC” Veins said. “He was larger than life, literally and metaphorically.”
Holmberg joked that if Paul is standing at the Pearly Gates now, Saint Peter is likely to tell him, “Watch your head, big fella.”
Even as a child, Varelans had an impressive stature. Kirsten O’Malley, who lived a few doors down from Varelans at Chenana Apartments, remembers how in third grade Varelans “towered over his tiny (but extremely stern) German mother” who was struggling to find a way to discipline her son.
“She once took a large, flat snow shovel to his behind, ‘spanking’ him in the parking lot in front of our apartments,” O’Malley wrote in an email to the News-Miner. “I don’t think Paul felt more than a vague irritation that she was making his punishment public, and rolled his eyes and she sweated out her attempts to make him conform.”
Varelans grew up in Fairbanks and went to Woodriver, Ryan and West Valley schools where he started playing sports. Ed Teders wrestled and played football with him at West Valley. He said he remembers how Varelans participated in every training and practice, even the ones he didn’t have to do.
“He was jumping rope with us, and we joked, ‘What do you jump the rope for?’ since he didn’t have to gain weight or anything,” Teders said. “But he did everything the rest of the people did to be respected and accepted.”
After school, Varelans started sending his football reels to a list of schools he made and got accepted to San Jose State University on a football scholarship, Watson said.
“Basically he got that scholarship himself, without any help, and left Fairbanks at 18,” she said.
That courage inspired people around Varelans.
“Paul always went for it. He would get knocked out and he would get up, and we all saw it,” Holmberg said. “He was the first one to go out into the world, he was fearless that way, and it influenced me.”
After graduating, Varelans started his fighting career and competed in UFC and Extreme Championship Wrestling from 1995 to 1998. His work took him to Brazil, Japan, Ukraine and the Netherlands, Watson said.
The early days of UFC fights were very different from what the sport is today, with less rules and safety precautions, and “no plan or gloves,” Holmberg said.
“For us, watching his fights was terrifying,” Holmberg said. “Back then in the early fights, I’m surprised nobody got killed. But Paul could take a punch like nobody I’ve ever seen, and then he would use his elbows and crumble them. Smaller guys are always faster, but Paul would persevere.”
Viens said that while Varelans didn’t win every fight, he “was known as a giant that wouldn’t give up and couldn’t be knocked out,” and “some of the biggest crowd reactions came during his losses because of how he hung in there until the end.”
While the sports Varelans practiced were violent, his friends remember his soft and artistic nature. Watson said that Varelans was a storyteller who wrote poetry and even worked on a children’s book about a polar bear and vulture, with a message about climate change.
Holmberg remembers discussing literature with Varelans who “had a brain of a philosopher on top of being a fighter.”
“He was a gladiator who liked to read Franz Kafka,” he said.
But Varelans’s kindness is the red thread tying every interview about him.
“He was a gentle giant with a heart bigger than his body,” Viens wrote. “He loved animals. He loved kids. He had a huge heart and would check up on friends randomly.”
Another thing Varelans loved was Alaska.
“He was very proud to be one of us,” Viens said.
In 2008, Varelans’ came back to Fairbanks — his hometown that might have shaped him as a person.
“When we were growing up in Fairbanks, there were not that many people; it was like Wild West back then,” Holmberg said. “The mountains were your peers, the mountains were your brother, and that’s who you needed to compete with — Mount Hayes, Mount Deborah ... Maybe it made Paul bigger?”
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moose eater
Well-known member
Fairbanks woman 'relieved and terrified' after recovering from COVID-19
- By Kris Capps, [email protected]
- Apr 2, 2020 Updated Sep 1, 2020
A Fairbanks woman who spent two weeks battling a debilitating bout with the coronavirus is sharing her story to encourage people to take social distancing seriously. Now recovering, she remains “relieved and terrified.”
Miriam Braun, 38, works as a seismic data analyst at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute. She shared her harrowing story on her personal Facebook page on March 28 and in a later phone interview.
“I’m usually pretty private, but I have seen so many people out,” she said. “I drove by on my way to a doctor’s appointment and there were all these people in the Walmart parking lot. I was just blown away.”
The disease, she said, is serious and scary. She knows because she just spent two weeks fighting it and feels grateful she recovered. But there is no guarantee she won’t get it again.
Braun has several underlying medical conditions, which made her a perfect host for the coronavirus. She suffers from lupus, a long-term autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system becomes hyperactive and attacks normal, healthy tissue. She also suffers from a common variable immune deficiency and a connective tissue disorder.
So she was a prime candidate to contract the virus when exposed.
The onset
The sickness started with a “horrendous head and neck ache that would not go away,” she wrote. “Then my body started hurting. I figured this was either the flu or a lupus flare, so I’d tough it out.”
But she got so sick that she went to Steese Immediate Care Clinic, where she was given fluids intravenously and tested for the flu before heading home.
Three days later, a relentless fever set in.
“It made my eyeballs hurt,” she wrote. “It made it impossible to do work or do anything else. I went back into urgent care. They gave me more fluids and said I had a bladder infection and treated me with antibiotics.”
A week later, the state Department of Health and Social Services informed her that she had had direct contact with COVID-19 at a local orthopedic clinic. Health officials try to track down every place and every person with whom an infected person has had contact to track the virus and find future victims. She had visited that clinic two days before her symptoms set in.
She was now officially eligible to be tested for COVID-19. The test, she said, was very unpleasant, way more intense than she anticipated.
“It feels like they are scraping your brains,” she said of the swab that plunges deep into the nasal passage.
By the time she got the positive result, she was even sicker. She describes that day as when “things started to get scary.” Not only did her body hurt, she was running out of breath just walking to the mailbox. This progressed, day after day, until getting up or even turning in bed left her short of breath.
“I could no longer eat,” she wrote. “I could barely drink.”
Lungs of ‘glass’
She went to the hospital’s emergency room three times and was treated, but not admitted to the hospital.
“They would only admit you if you were ready to be put on a ventilator,” she wrote. “Though at this point, I wasn’t far from it.”
Fairbanks Memorial Hospital has specific criteria a patient must meet to be admitted.
At one point, Braun returned to urgent care for more fluids and an X-ray, which revealed she had developed pneumonia.
“My lungs were filling up with what they call ‘broken glass,’ because that is what it looks like on the X-ray,” she wrote. “I couldn’t catch my breath. I needed a wheelchair to move anywhere.”
The last time she went to the emergency room, she was not admitted to the hospital because her oxygen levels did not meet the critical low number the hospital set for admission.
She went home.
“That night, my fever broke and I felt the weight — the pressure — physically leave my head and neck,” she wrote. “The next morning I was able to breathe a tiny bit deeper. And the day after that, deeper still. Tonight I can walk to the bathroom without stopping halfway to catch my breath.”
“It’s a miracle,” she said. “It’s crazy how it happened. It was so sudden.”
Advice to her community
Braun is sharing her story as a cautionary tale.
“I have a weak immune system. However, I’m young and have no underlying respiratory issues. You don’t want this and you don’t want your loved ones to get it.”
“Please stay inside,” she wrote. “Do everything you can to slow its spread and buy our community time. To buy each other time.
“If you are wondering if I feared for my life — I did — with real reason. Please do not give us any reason to fear for yours.”
Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct information regarding emergency room use and hospital admission.
moose eater
Well-known member
Now, you can park your skepticism re. my claims and maybe even bring yourself to apologize.
The reason, by the way, that Alaska had the highest COVID rates (per capita) in the Nation throughout much of the period of time covered by the articles I posted?? People just like yourself, scoffing at the reality of the virus and exposing others to it needlessly. Selfish idiots and fools, by any other name. And in some/many of these cases, lethal idiots and fools.
And yet my wife nor I caught the stuff.
Why? Because we respected protocols, including those that went well beyond what Public Health was advising. And we still do. We have better things to do with our limited money than to spend it on avoidable illnesses.
The reason, by the way, that Alaska had the highest COVID rates (per capita) in the Nation throughout much of the period of time covered by the articles I posted?? People just like yourself, scoffing at the reality of the virus and exposing others to it needlessly. Selfish idiots and fools, by any other name. And in some/many of these cases, lethal idiots and fools.
And yet my wife nor I caught the stuff.
Why? Because we respected protocols, including those that went well beyond what Public Health was advising. And we still do. We have better things to do with our limited money than to spend it on avoidable illnesses.
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moose eater
Well-known member
Fairbanks
Updated: October 2, 2021Published: October 1, 2021
Amanda Frey, a nurse at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, sat down after a long day at work recently and made a brief video describing what it’s like to die with COVID-19: gasping for breath, terrified and beyond comfort.
She paints a grim and immediate picture of deaths occurring almost daily at the hospital, largely among unvaccinated people.
“COVID-19 patients that die transition from being OK to actively dying very suddenly, and often without warning. They start to experience a state of panic and air hunger that is very difficult to manage and causes severe anxiety,” Frey says. “The medications that we usually use for patients at the end of life don’t help as much with COVID-19 patients when they’re dying. So what we’re seeing are deaths that are not only isolated but they’re also very traumatic.”
She made the video at the request of a doctor she works with on the medical unit, where the 44-year-old nurse has spent 12 years caring for the dying.
It’s never been like this, Frey and fellow nurse Don Lee said in an interview Thursday.
COVID-19 patients at the hospital are dying at an extraordinary rate, beset by anxiety because they’re acutely aware of their impending deaths.
“These people literally are just watching themselves die,” said Lee, who’s been a nurse for 22 years. “They have monitors on. ... They’re measuring their oxygen levels and they’re sitting there watching the numbers, day after day, and watching those numbers go down. I mean, they’re watching themselves die.”
It feels like there is always someone dying on the floor these days, Frey said. A coworker told Lee on Thursday she’s put someone in a body bag every day she’s worked recently.
These are community members, people the nurses know. Both grew up in Interior Alaska.
They see patients so sick from the virus who deny it’s real, then eventually come around. More often, Frey said, she sees people who change their minds about getting the vaccine.
“Many patients, I’ve gone into the room, and I’m there to deliver the last dose of medicine they’ll get in their life, and I pull up the computer and it shows they wanted a COVID vaccine,” she said. “It’s so sadly ironic. And it’s too late.”
Fairbanks is experiencing the consequences of a statewide surge from the infectious delta variant that’s given Alaska the worst new-case rate in the country. The state’s new infections are continuing on a steep trajectory even as they appear to be peaking and declining in the Lower 48. More than 1,000 new COVID-19 infections were reported Wednesday and more than 1,200 on Thursday as well as 14 recent deaths.
Seven Fairbanks North Star Borough residents have died with COVID-19 in the past week.
Fairbanks Memorial reported another death Thursday involving a 70-year-old patient. About a third of the 77 patients at the hospital were COVID-positive by Friday, ranging in age from an infant and a teenager to adults in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s.
Citing “a critical shortage of resources,” the hospital shifted to crisis standards of care Friday afternoon.
In her video, Frey describes a “severe state of breathlessness” that’s very distressing and also common in people who are very sick with the virus.
Nurses trying to ease the tremendous anxiety of patients who know they can’t breathe administer morphine earlier than is customary in end-of-life care — and it doesn’t seem to work as well as it usually does, both nurses say. They’re having to find other options to ease discomfort.
“We’ll have patients that will tell us ... ‘I can only breathe in to here,’ and they can literally point on their chest, like, how far in they feel they can get breath, and it’s ... it’s slowly suffocating, basically,” Lee said.
Frey said making the video was hard, and took several tries because she kept getting too emotional.
At one point her voice breaks as she describes families “layered with feelings of anger, sadness and guilt and regret,” nurses taking children up to say goodbye to dying patients, and spouses sick with the virus together in a room — until one goes home to recover and the other doesn’t make it out of the hospital.
“What I want you to know about what’s going on in the hospital with COVID-19 is this is not an experience that you want for anyone that you love,” she says on the video, before pausing to look at the camera. “Thank you for listening.”
Frey said she made the video so people who see it take notice and “don’t take the decision to vaccinate or not vaccinate lightly.”
“It’s my hope that people really consider, and examine their hearts about their motivations for their choice, and understand that the reality of what we’re seeing in the hospital is very ugly and preventable,” she said Thursday. “I think 90% of our hospitalizations right now are unvaccinated patients. The fact that that could have been prevented is terrible.”
The video was played for the Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce and posted this week on the hospital’s Facebook page, according to Meghan Festa, a spokesperson for Foundation Health Partners, which operates Fairbanks Memorial. It’s also been featured by blogger Dermot Cole and the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.
‘Watching themselves die’: Fairbanks nurse describes panic and ‘air hunger’ among COVID patients in video encouraging vaccination
By Zaz HollanderUpdated: October 2, 2021Published: October 1, 2021
Amanda Frey, a nurse at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, sat down after a long day at work recently and made a brief video describing what it’s like to die with COVID-19: gasping for breath, terrified and beyond comfort.
She paints a grim and immediate picture of deaths occurring almost daily at the hospital, largely among unvaccinated people.
“COVID-19 patients that die transition from being OK to actively dying very suddenly, and often without warning. They start to experience a state of panic and air hunger that is very difficult to manage and causes severe anxiety,” Frey says. “The medications that we usually use for patients at the end of life don’t help as much with COVID-19 patients when they’re dying. So what we’re seeing are deaths that are not only isolated but they’re also very traumatic.”
She made the video at the request of a doctor she works with on the medical unit, where the 44-year-old nurse has spent 12 years caring for the dying.
It’s never been like this, Frey and fellow nurse Don Lee said in an interview Thursday.
COVID-19 patients at the hospital are dying at an extraordinary rate, beset by anxiety because they’re acutely aware of their impending deaths.
“These people literally are just watching themselves die,” said Lee, who’s been a nurse for 22 years. “They have monitors on. ... They’re measuring their oxygen levels and they’re sitting there watching the numbers, day after day, and watching those numbers go down. I mean, they’re watching themselves die.”
It feels like there is always someone dying on the floor these days, Frey said. A coworker told Lee on Thursday she’s put someone in a body bag every day she’s worked recently.
These are community members, people the nurses know. Both grew up in Interior Alaska.
They see patients so sick from the virus who deny it’s real, then eventually come around. More often, Frey said, she sees people who change their minds about getting the vaccine.
“Many patients, I’ve gone into the room, and I’m there to deliver the last dose of medicine they’ll get in their life, and I pull up the computer and it shows they wanted a COVID vaccine,” she said. “It’s so sadly ironic. And it’s too late.”
Fairbanks is experiencing the consequences of a statewide surge from the infectious delta variant that’s given Alaska the worst new-case rate in the country. The state’s new infections are continuing on a steep trajectory even as they appear to be peaking and declining in the Lower 48. More than 1,000 new COVID-19 infections were reported Wednesday and more than 1,200 on Thursday as well as 14 recent deaths.
Seven Fairbanks North Star Borough residents have died with COVID-19 in the past week.
Fairbanks Memorial reported another death Thursday involving a 70-year-old patient. About a third of the 77 patients at the hospital were COVID-positive by Friday, ranging in age from an infant and a teenager to adults in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s.
Citing “a critical shortage of resources,” the hospital shifted to crisis standards of care Friday afternoon.
In her video, Frey describes a “severe state of breathlessness” that’s very distressing and also common in people who are very sick with the virus.
Nurses trying to ease the tremendous anxiety of patients who know they can’t breathe administer morphine earlier than is customary in end-of-life care — and it doesn’t seem to work as well as it usually does, both nurses say. They’re having to find other options to ease discomfort.
“We’ll have patients that will tell us ... ‘I can only breathe in to here,’ and they can literally point on their chest, like, how far in they feel they can get breath, and it’s ... it’s slowly suffocating, basically,” Lee said.
Frey said making the video was hard, and took several tries because she kept getting too emotional.
At one point her voice breaks as she describes families “layered with feelings of anger, sadness and guilt and regret,” nurses taking children up to say goodbye to dying patients, and spouses sick with the virus together in a room — until one goes home to recover and the other doesn’t make it out of the hospital.
“What I want you to know about what’s going on in the hospital with COVID-19 is this is not an experience that you want for anyone that you love,” she says on the video, before pausing to look at the camera. “Thank you for listening.”
Frey said she made the video so people who see it take notice and “don’t take the decision to vaccinate or not vaccinate lightly.”
“It’s my hope that people really consider, and examine their hearts about their motivations for their choice, and understand that the reality of what we’re seeing in the hospital is very ugly and preventable,” she said Thursday. “I think 90% of our hospitalizations right now are unvaccinated patients. The fact that that could have been prevented is terrible.”
The video was played for the Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce and posted this week on the hospital’s Facebook page, according to Meghan Festa, a spokesperson for Foundation Health Partners, which operates Fairbanks Memorial. It’s also been featured by blogger Dermot Cole and the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.
moose eater
Well-known member
Amanda's video referenced in the above article...
moose eater
Well-known member
‘This place is on fire with COVID’: Younger, unvaccinated patients strain Fairbanks hospital
ByRobyne, KUAC - Fairbanks
-
May 3, 2021
Fairbanks Memorial Hospital’s capacity is being strained by high COVID-19 rates, and the community should be more alarmed, say medical workers.
The hospital is receiving a surge in patients from the Fairbanks North Star Borough, plus some from Delta Junction and those diverted from Bassett Hospital on Fort Wainwright.
Medical executives gave a report to Greater Fairbanks Community Hospital Foundation Board on Friday, saying they’re demoralized by the lack of community response, even as COVID-19 becomes more preventable.
moose eater
Well-known member
There have been a variety of mRNA vaccines and/or immunotherapy for cancer(s).Good news, everyone!
What are cancer vaccines and have scientists finally found a cure?
The NHS in England is recruiting for the first large-scale trial of its kind, with hopes high that the personalised jabs could be a gamechangerwww.theguardian.com
Cancer research
Explainer
What are cancer vaccines and have scientists finally found a cure?
The NHS in England is recruiting for the first large-scale trial of its kind, with hopes high that the personalised jabs could be a gamechanger
Andrew Gregory Health editor in Chicago
Thu 30 May 2024 19.01 EDT
What are cancer vaccines?
Cancer vaccines are a form of immunotherapy. Unlike vaccines that protect from an infection, such as the Covid-19 jab, cancer vaccines treat people who already have the disease. They are designed to help the patient’s immune system recognise and then kill cancer cells – and prevent them from coming back.
How are cancer vaccines made?
The jabs are custom built for each person, typically in just a few weeks. To make them, a sample of a patient’s tumour is removed during surgery, followed by DNA sequencing and in some cases the use of artificial intelligence. The result is a personalised anti-cancer jab specific to that patient’s tumour.
How do they help fight cancer?
The cancer vaccines work by sending an instruction or blueprint to the patient’s cells to produce an antigen or protein that can distinguish cancer cells from normal cells. The jabs stimulate the immune system to act. The immune system makes antibodies that can recognise and attack the harmless versions of the disease. Once the patient’s body has made these antibodies it can recognise the disease if returns.
What types of cancer can they treat?
Scientists are studying many different types of cancer vaccines and how they might work in different forms of cancer. More research is needed to get a full picture of how well the vaccines work and which cancers they could treat. Experts believe they could be effective in a range of cancers, including but not limited to colorectal, lung, bladder, pancreatic and kidney.
Doctors have also begun trialling the world’s first personalised mRNA cancer vaccine for melanoma. Experts hailed its “gamechanging” potential to permanently cure the skin cancer. A phase 2 trial found that the vaccines dramatically reduced the risk of the cancer returning in melanoma patients.
How can people access cancer vaccines?
Research is still at an early stage, so the jabs are mainly available as part of clinical trials. The NHS is launching a scheme that will give thousands of patients in England access to cancer vaccine trials.
What is the Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad?
The NHS scheme in England is the first of its kind worldwide. It aims to recruit thousands of cancer patients, with a matchmaking service putting them into clinical trials of the jabs that could help them.
When will it begin recruiting?
It already has. The first NHS patient to join the Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad is Elliot Pfebve, a 55-year-old lecturer who had no symptoms and was diagnosed with colorectal cancer after a routine health check.
How did doctors create this personalised vaccine?
First, Pfebve had surgery to remove his tumour, followed by chemotherapy. His personalised vaccine was created by analysing his tumour to identify mutations specific to his own cancer. He then received his jab via an infusion at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS foundation trust, one of several sites taking part in a BioNTech colorectal cancer vaccine trial. It was designed with the same mRNA technology used to create the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine.
How is the patient doing?
The principal investigator for the trial in Birmingham, Dr Victoria Kunene, said it was too early to say if the patient had been cured completely, but said she was “extremely hopeful”. “Based on the limited data we currently have of the in-body response to the vaccine, this could prove to be a significant and positive development for patients, but more data is yet needed and we continue to recruit suitable patients to the trial to establish this further,” she said.
How can I sign up?
The NHS has already enlisted dozens of patients to its Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad and will now accelerate recruitment, with thousands being offered access to cancer vaccine trials each year. Cancer patients can talk to their GP about whether they may be eligible to join the trials.
How significant is the arrival of cancer vaccines?
Vaccines have revolutionised medicine, protecting millions of people from measles and mumps, polio and coronavirus. They have also wiped out smallpox, one of the deadliest diseases in human history. Now experts believe they can form part of the toolbox needed to fight off cancer for good. They will not replace surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy any time soon but could play a key role in immunotherapy, the fourth weapon against cancer.
There are many challenges, and making personalised jabs for individual patients takes time, but the hope is that the process could speed up in future. Doctors and scientists have been working on cancer vaccines for decades but they have now reached a point where they are seeing real benefits for patients.
'Provenge' is one that would 'possibly' work on my cancer, however, its efficacy rates have the insurance companies denying it more often than not, unless a person has already gone through Androgen Deprivation Therapy (ADT), and their cancer is more non-responsive to the ADT, which isn't an option for me, due to other conditions/circumstances/personal boundaries.
The good news is that Provenge has few to no side-effects. The bad news is that it's likely now well over $100,000 per treatment.
The bean-counters at the for-profit insurance companies, which really amount to a middleman with a strong lobby in DC sometimes interfering in treatment options for patients., are more or less frequently at least partly in charge of what Docs can do for patients, though there's some blow-back happening with that mismatched situation at the moment.
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moose eater
Well-known member
Near the end of the articles I posted above is the article re. the former mma fighter. a local Fairbanks guy who was reported by his friends to have been "as healthy as an ox" at the time of his death.
You might also note the infant(s), and the 19 and 20-year-olds locally who are referenced in the articles, who died of COVID, as well.
Maybe they're just not making youngsters like they used to?
For those who have suffered, the deniers are an insult added to injury. No, really.
Greenfingers420UK
Active member
Ok, what about the millions that are dead or suffering from vax injuries?
shiva82
Well-known member
it was all bullshit . all of it .
