FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 11, 2021
Contact: Alexis Erikson, Public Relations Specialist
Phone: (907) 443-8918
Two Community Cases Identified in Nome Residents
Nome, Alaska – Norton Sound Health Corporation identified two positive COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, May 11. The two cases are considered to be community spread and connected to previous cases. Both patients are safely isolating, and close contacts have been notified.
The addition of these two cases brings the total number of active COVID-19 cases in the region to 11.
On Monday, May 10, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 12 to 15. On Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee has scheduled a meeting to review the shots for this age group. If approved by the CDC as expected, it could be distributed to adolescents as soon as this week.
The FDA declared the Pfizer vaccine is safe and offers strong protection for younger teens based on testing of more than 2,000 U.S. volunteers ages 12 to 15. Researchers also found that children developed higher levels of virus-fighting antibodies than earlier studies measured in young adults.
NSHC has been working with the Bering Strait School District and Nome Public Schools to bring vaccination teams to schools in the region as soon as possible.
If you have questions or concerns about the vaccine, you can call into NSHC’s Tribal Leader Call on Monday or Wednesday at 1-800-315-6338; access code 03286#, or email NSHC’s medical staff for answers at .
