Think it’s tough to get a COVID vaccine in your area? Try being in rural northern Alaska. The all-female healthcare team managing the COVID vaccine distribution from Kotzebue, a city that’s 33-miles north of the Arctic Circle, is bringing it to their patients living in one of the most remote areas of the state. And to get to them? They’re traveling by planes, sleds and snowmobiles.
The team of pharmacist Meredith Dean, Dr. Kathrine Bengaard and nurses Heather Kenison and James Austin V are dedicated to reaching those who can’t make it in to clinics to be vaccinated. They recently spent a day in subzero temperatures with just a few hours of daylight available bringing the vaccine on an Alaskan “bush plane” and after they landed they rode a sled pulled by a snowmobile to get to elders in rural villages. They traveled hundreds of miles to multiple villages and delivered 65 vaccinations and they say they’ll keep going until everyone is vaccinated.
“It’s challenging getting the vaccine up here to begin with and then getting it out to the villages brings on a whole new set of challenges and logistical issues,” Dean explains. “Time is of the utmost importance.”
Source: ABC News