Bridget Dowd

Updated post – 5 p.m.

City officials said the South Africa variant, B.1.351 has been identified in Juneau. 

During the monthly COVID-19 update on Tuesday, City Emergency Manager Robert Barr said the vaccines are slightly less effective against this variant meaning about 60-75% effective at preventing serious illness instead of about 95% effective.

The variant was discovered in the most recent state Department of Health and Social Services report last week. 

City officials are also in the process of rolling out a COVID-19 screening program for unvaccinated people who work with children or in jobs in the tourism industry who might be in close contact with travelers.

The city is also partnering with the Juneau Chamber of Commerce offering gift cards to those who get their first vaccine doses in June. Anyone who gets their first or second dose between June 3rd and June 29th will also be entered to win one of five $1,000 cash prizes. 

City officials also addressed a question about the Fourth of July firework show and parade in Juneau. City Manager, Rorie Watt said the festivities will go ahead as scheduled. Those who are not fully vaccinated, but would like to attend, will be asked to wear masks.

Original post – 3 p.m.

Juneau officials will discuss the latest COVID-19 case and vaccine numbers during a community update at 4 p.m. today over Zoom.

You can watch here, on the city’s Facebook page, or listen in by calling 1-253-215-8782 or 1-346-248-7799 with the webinar ID 985 6308 5159. The public can ask questions in advance by emailing COVIDquestions@juneau.org.

SAIL, CBJ, and Juneau Taxi and Tours are now offering free cab rides to vaccine appointments for seniors and those with disabilities. To enroll and schedule a ride in advance, call the SAIL office at 888-478-7245 or email info@sailinc.org.

Anyone age 12 or older is eligible to get vaccinated. Vaccine appointments are available through local health care providers and pharmacies, and pop-up clinics that local businesses and organizations have requested. 

Eligible patients can also walk in and get a COVID-19 vaccine at the Juneau International Airport seven days a week from 12:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. 

Regardless of vaccination status, everyone must wear a mask at the Juneau International Airport per the federal mask mandate.

The Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center will open to the public on Tuesday, June 1. It will be the first time since doors closed in March 2020 due to COVID-19 concerns.

The visitor center will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day and will stay open as long as community risk levels remain safe for visitors and employees.

The center’s director Barb Miranda said visitors will notice some changes when they come in. 

“We do have a request that people that have not been vaccinated wear a mask and maintain social distancing,” Miranda said. “There are stickers on the floors to guide folks along the way. We do have one way circulation through the visitor center.”

Nobody will be asked to show their vaccine cards, so masking will be on the honor system. The building will also be limited to 25% capacity, which is about 75 people at a time.

Miranda said staff members are beyond excited to welcome people back.

“Interpreters are by their very nature creative and extroverted people, and it’s definitely been quiet around here without the visitor center open,” she said.

And there’s already a lot going on outside the observatory windows. 

“With mountain goats on the cliff and there’s quite a bit of bear activity already so really, [we’re] just delighted to have a space where folks can come in and enjoy the views out the windows and interact with forest service rangers that know a lot about the area,” Miranda said.

Visitors will have to buy passes to get into the visitor center from now through the end of September. Those are available at machines in the Mendenhall Glacier parking lots as well as online. 

Day use passes sell for $5 per person and collectible season passes are available for $15 for the card holder and one guest all season.

In this newscast:

• Independent travelers are showing up in force in Southcentral and local tour operators say those are the visitors they’re focusing on this year.
• Police and the FBI are investigating stickers that display swastikas and a threatening message that were put on windows and doors of an Anchorage gay bar and a Jewish history museum this week.

• The University of Alaska Anchorage is reopening its campuses this fall, including the Homer and Soldotna campuses of Kenai Peninsula College.

In this newscast:

• A bill protecting the graves of Unangax̂ people forced to live in internment camps in Funter Bay passed the Alaska Legislature on May 17 and now awaits Gov. Dunleavy’s signature.
• Three years ago, Alaska lawmakers passed a bill that established the maximum amount that could be sustainably spent from the Permanent Fund each year, now a new debate pits short-term needs against residents’ long-term interests.
• The Southeast Alaska community of Metlakatla is facing its worst COVID-19 outbreak to date.

In this newscast:

• Why some Juneau kids chose to get vaccinated against COVID-19
• President Biden signed a bill Monday that will allow cruise ships to return to Southeast Alaska this summer.
• Alaska lawmakers sprinted to try to finish their work before the regular session’s constitutional deadline last week. But they failed to pass the budget by then, and now, their momentum seems to have stalled.

Soon after children 12 and up were cleared for the COVID-19 vaccine, Juneau officials opened clinics at four schools.

More than 600 people got their shot at the youth clinics earlier this month. But not all of them were kids. While most were 12 to 15-year-olds, some parents and other students who hadn’t yet been vaccinated also chose to get their shots.

Last month, the city stopped offering mass vaccine clinics, due to a decrease in demand and focused its attention on pop-up clinics. Robert Barr, Juneau’s Emergency Operations Chief, said those smaller events are still getting a lot of traction and the youth clinics met expectations.

“It was about on target with what we had seen proportionately within the adult population when the vaccine was first made available to that age group,” Barr said.

Barr said it’s important to recognize how serious COVID-19 can be, even for children.

“We’ve seen a number of cases, even cases here locally of kids having significant, sort of longer-term effects that impact their cardiovascular systems and ability to participate fully in sports and athletics,” Barr said.

Carmen Farr, 15,  got her vaccine at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé where she’ll attend 10th grade next year. She and her 12-year-old sister were excited to be vaccinated after not seeing high-risk relatives for a long time.

“That was hard on my parents, especially,” Carmen said. “They weren’t able to see their own parents for such a long time. Last month, we went on a vacation to see my grandparents because they were all vaccinated, but it was the first time we had seen them in like over a year.”

Carmen missed out on her eighth grade graduation in 2020 and getting a summer job. Now, she’s looking forward to hanging out with her friends and maybe working, as businesses are starting to open up again.

Eleanor Carpenter, 12, will start eighth grade at Dzantik’i Heeni Middle School this fall. When a clinic came to her school gym, she said she was more than ready to get a vaccine despite her fear of needles.

“I was following it very carefully on the news and stuff because I was really hoping to get [the vaccine],” Eleanor said. “Everybody in my family has got it, who was old enough to do so, of course. So when I heard it was announced I was like ‘I need an appointment right now!’ So we got one.”

Her 6-year-old brother missed out on his first year of going to kindergarten and Eleanor switched to a home school program.

“I was like ‘I wanna do homeschool’ and now I know that I really don’t wanna do homeschool,” Eleanor said.

After a year of canceled plans due to COVID-19, she said she just wants to do her part.

“You know, I want, not things to go back to normal because I think we should learn from this, but I want it to go back to where we can hang out and stuff and have birthday parties and holidays,” Eleanor said.

Garrett McGuan is also a Dzantik’i Heeni student, but he just hit the mark after turning 12 earlier this month. He was vaccinated alongside all his friends who were old enough to get a shot.

“I wanted to get a vaccine because then I could hang around with my friends without masks and go into their houses and hang out,” Garrett said.

So what do these kids have to say to those still worried about getting vaccinated?

Carmen: “It’s important to get vaccinated to protect other people.”

Eleanor: “I had a lot less fear than I would’ve because both of my grandmothers told me their smallpox and polio stories of how they got vaccinated for those, and those sounded a lot scarier.”

Garrett: “Get your shot!”

Carmen, Eleanor and Garrett will get their second dose at clinics scheduled for early June. Eligible kids who haven’t had their first shots are welcome to do so at those clinics as well.