Sixty-nine point two percent of Cordova residents have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, said Dr. Anne Zink, Alaska’s chief medical officer. Sixty-seven point two percent of residents have been fully vaccinated, Zink announced at a Sept. 8 public forum held by the city of Cordova.
“Nice job being above the state averages,” Zink said.
This represented a large increase from figures announced the previous month, when city and health care officials said that Cordova’s vaccination rate was under 50%. As of Tuesday, Sept. 14, 55% percent of people in the larger Valdez-Cordova Census Area have received at least one dose of vaccine, according to Alaska Department of Health and Social Services data.
The figure cited by Zink was calculated by comparing a total number of 1,638 people who had received at least one dose of vaccine against a total Cordova population of 2,366 people. However, the resulting figures are somewhat imprecise, as they are based on where vaccine recipients reported that they lived, and people tend to move around, she said.
As COVID-19 hospitalizations have increased throughout Alaska, health care providers have struggled to deal with fatigue and staffing issues. In Cordova, hospital staff have remained resilient and available to support people, Cordova Community Medical Center Medical Director Dr. Hannah Sanders told forum attendees.
“Overall, I hear our staff here remaining very positive, and have not had anybody turn in their resignation yet, so I think that Cordova is doing well,” Sanders said.
The forum also included DHSS clinical pharmacist Dr. Coleman Cutchins.
Six COVID-19 cases were reported in Cordova from Sept. 7-13, the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services announced. Of those cases, five were residents and one was a non-resident who was in the community for purposes under investigation.
A cumulative total of 320 coronavirus cases have been reported in Cordova, of which 295 have been Alaska residents and 25 have been non-residents, according to DHSS data. A cumulative total of five people who tested positive for the virus have been hospitalized in Cordova. A total of one person who tested positive for the virus has died in Cordova.
