An updated vaccine for COVID-19 is available locally at several pharmacies, and is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for everyone older than 6 months of age.

According to vaccines.gov, there are seven locations offering the COVID-19 vaccine on the central Kenai Peninsula. These are the Kenai Public Health Center, Safeway in Kenai and Soldotna, Walmart, Walgreens and Fred Meyer. For Alaska Native and American Indian people, the Dena’ina Wellness Center also offers the vaccine.

The updated vaccines available in Alaska are produced by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech. Moderna’s new vaccine is called Spikevax and Pfizer’s is called Comirnaty, a September press release from the Food and Drug Administration says. Both are designed to target “currently circulating variants.”

The FDA in the same release says they expect that the COVID-19 vaccine will need to be updated annually like the seasonal influenza vaccine — “barring the emergence of a markedly more virulent variant.”

Because of the end of the federally announced Public Health Emergency in May, the new COVID-19 vaccine will come with a cost. The CDC said in a Sept. 12 press release that “most Americans can still get a COVID-19 vaccine for free.”

That release says that most health insurance plans will cover the vaccine. For those without insurance or those whose insurance will not cover the cost, the CDC says that public health centers and other applicable government entities including tribal health centers can offer the vaccine for free.

According to a Sept. 14 press release from the CDC, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has a “Bridge Access Program” to further provide vaccine coverage for people without insurance who would otherwise lose access to COVID-19 vaccines. That program will allow for free vaccines for people without insurance at participating pharmacies.

Walgreens confirmed their participation in the Bridge Access Program in a September press release, saying their participation is a result of a focus “on driving equitable and convenient access to life-saving vaccines.”

In an email to the Clarion, Walgreens communications specialist Jennifer Cotto wrote that they are working closely with distributors to ensure stores have necessary supply, but encourage people to schedule their vaccine appointments ahead of time to ensure availability.

The updated vaccine was approved and recommended by the CDC in September, coming as the agency was reporting increases in COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths nationwide. Since the vaccine was made available roughly mid-September, hospitalizations have begun to trend downward, though deaths are still increasing.

Alaska’s COVID-19 Information Hub, through which the State Department of Health released information about cases, hospitalizations and deaths, saw its last update on Sept. 12. Updates had come, since the start of summer, on the second Tuesday of each month. On Oct. 10, when an update would have been expected, the platform was described as Archived, and a new message read that the September update was the platform’s final update.

Prior to the Hub being discontinued, a discrepancy could be seen between the number of deaths in Alaska reported by the State and the number reported in Alaska by the CDC. According to the State, as of the Sept. 12 update, 1,485 people had died of COVID-19 — no deaths having been added to the count since July. According to the CDC, as of Sept. 12, 1,521 people had died of COVID-19 — 1,524 to date. The Department did not respond to a request for comment.

Hospitalizations in Alaska, according to the CDC, have remained fairly low — though they did rise in early September to a high of 37 new hospitalizations per week. The most recent week reported was 21 hospitalizations.

A respiratory virus snapshot published by the State Department of Health on Thursday showed that the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus have been trending upward statewide since the start of August.

The CDC says “this is the first fall and winter virus season where vaccines are available for the three viruses responsible for most hospitalizations – COVID-19, RSV, and flu.” Everyone is recommended to receive the COVID-19 and influenza vaccines, while infants, pregnant people and those older than 60 are recommended to receive vaccines against respiratory syncytial virus.

For more information about vaccines and recommendations in Alaska, visit health.alaska.gov. To find a vaccine appointment, visit vaccines.gov.

This story was edited Monday to correct the description of the Dena’ina Wellness Center’s availablity of the vaccine. The center serves all Alaska Native and American Indian people, not just members of the Kenaitze Indian Tribe.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.