Editorials

As an excruciating year ends, hope of beating COVID-19 comes closer

It’s somehow fitting that vials of COVID-19 vaccine began arriving in Alaska just as the daylight approached its lowest ebb. Now, with winter solstice behind us, every day brings a little more light than the last. It’s accompanied by another kind of light — the light of hope. Each day for the past two weeks, about a thousand Alaskans have endured a poke to the upper arm, receiving the first dose of protection against the disease that has ravaged the world for much of 2020. They are doctors and nurses, paramedics and Pioneer Home residents. And they represent a vanguard against the coronavirus that will grow until the pandemic is stamped out.

It was only a few weeks ago that Alaska’s COVID-19 situation was at its most dire. The state came perilously close to 1,000 new cases in a single day. Hospitals, near full capacity, were stretched close to their breaking point. But we’ve begun to back away from that nightmare scenario. We’re still nowhere near out of the woods — in the Mat-Su region, for instance, there were no available ICU beds on Wednesday night, according to the state’s COVID-19 dashboard. In the past two weeks, however, the trend has become clear: We’ve seen sustained drops in the number of new cases, hospitalizations and test positivity rate. The curve is flattening, and we have one another to thank for it.

In an era marked by division, it is a cruel irony that we should face a challenge that requires collective unity and resolve to overcome — and that division has played a major role in why the virus has claimed the lives of more than 330,000 Americans, close to 200 of whom lived here in Alaska. But there’s evidence to suggest we’re not always as divided as we think: A state survey conducted in late November found that the vast majority of Alaskans believe in the efficacy of masks and wears them when around people outside their households. There’s no question that has played a role in the recent flattening of our case-count curve — although Anchorage has stricter mandates than much of the state when it comes to masks, our fight against COVID-19 nonetheless relies almost entirely on voluntary compliance — code enforcement officers couldn’t handle even a fraction of those who choose to flout regulations requiring masks in public places. By maintaining distance from others, wearing masks, reducing contact with people outside our households and washing our hands regularly, we are seeing success in our battle against COVID-19 — and if we continue these measures, we will keep seeing improvement.

And as vaccinations begin, it’s becoming clear just how much our limited supply of vaccine can do to prevent hospitalizations and deaths. Americans older than 65 make up more than 80% of COVID-19 deaths despite being only about 16% of the total population. Alaska has 61,900 doses of the vaccine already on hand, according to the state — enough to cover more than 10% of Alaskans 16 or older. Granted, much of this first round of vaccines is allocated for health care workers, live-in care residents and first responders, but there will still be enough to start protecting Alaska’s most vulnerable population. Alaska’s panel that will decide the order for Alaskans to receive the vaccine will meet a few days before the new year; given the outsize mortality impacts to elders, the panel’s members should weigh prioritizing them, as other states have — particularly in regions such as Southwest Alaska, where mortality rates are high and medical facilities are often far away.

There are still plenty of dangers and high hurdles between us and the end of the pandemic. But in a fitting counterpoint to the march of new COVID-19 cases that we’ve been living with for the past nine months, Alaskans now have another number to watch: the number of vaccinated Alaskans, growing every day by more than the daily case count. It’s not unlike the daylight now returning to us a few minutes at a time, making Alaska brighter with each passing day.

Anchorage Daily News editorial board

Editorial opinions are by the editorial board, which welcomes responses from readers. Board members are ADN President Ryan Binkley, Publisher Andy Pennington and Opinion Editor Tom Hewitt. The board operates independently from the ADN newsroom. To submit feedback, a letter or longer commentary for consideration, email commentary@adn.com.

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