Vaccine Eligibility
Updated February 10, 2021
Alaskans currently eligible to receive the COVID vaccine include:
- People 65 years and above
- Most health care workers*
Starting February 11, additional people will be eligible to book an appointment:
- People 50 years and above with a high-risk medical condition*
- People 50 years and above working as a frontline essential worker*
- Pre K–12 and child care education staff
- People living or working in congregate settings*
*Limitations apply. See footnotes for details.
Vaccine managed by the Alaska Tribal Health System, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the U.S. Department of Defense may have different eligibility criteria. Vaccine doses will be distributed throughout Alaska in a series of phases. Over time, everyone who wants to be vaccinated will be able to get vaccinated.
On this page:
Who is eligible now?Phase 1a Tiers 1-3 - OPEN
- Long term care facility staff and residents
- Hospital-based frontline health care workers and hospital personnel
- Frontline EMS and Fire Service personnel providing medical services
- Community Health Aides/Practitioners
- Health care workers providing COVID vaccinations
- Workers in health care settings who meet all of the following criteria:
- Have direct human patient contact, or have direct contact with infectious materials from patients, AND
- Provide essential services in a hospital, clinic, home, or community-based setting that cannot be offered remotely or performed via telework; AND
- Provide essential health care service in a health care setting that cannot be postponed without serious negative impact to the patient's health
Phase 1b Tier 1 - OPEN
- People 65 years and above
Phase 1b Tier 2 – OPEN (as of Feb. 11, 2021)
- People 50 years and above who have any of the following high-risk medical conditions:
- cancer
- chronic kidney disease
- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- Down Syndrome
- heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, or cardiomyopathies
- immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from solid organ transplant
- obesity or severe obesity (body mass index [BMI] greater than 30 kg/m2) (see calculator)
- sickle cell disease
- smoking
- type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus
- pregnancy
- Frontline essential workers 50 years and above who must work within 6 feet of others
- Education staff, limited to:
- Childcare workers and support staff (e.g. custodial, food service, transportation);
- Pre K–12 grade educators and support staff (e.g. custodial, food service, transportation);
- Indigenous language and culture bearers
- People living or working in congregate settings not covered in Phase 1a, limited to:
- Acute psychiatric facilities;
- Correctional settings;
- Group homes for individuals with disabilities or mental and behavioral health conditions;
- Homeless and domestic violence shelters;
- Substance misuse and treatment residential facilities; and
- Transitional living homes
- Pandemic response staff who may come into contact with the SARS-CoV-2 virus during outbreak response activities.
Who is eligible soon?
Phase 1b Tier 3: Not yet open. Timeline to be determined.
- People 55 years and above
- People 40 years and above who have a high-risk medical condition
- People 16-49 who are frontline essential workers with a high-risk medical condition
- People 16 years and above who live in a multigenerational household with 3 or more generations, or “skipped” generations (e.g., a grandchild living with an elder).
- People 16 and above who live in communities where at least 45% homes have not been served either via pipe, septic tank and well, or covered haul system.
Phase 1c: Not yet open. Timeline to be determined.
- People 16 years and above who have a high-risk medical condition
- Frontline essential workers not included in previous phases, who are working in Alaska, as defined by CISA.
Who will be eligible later?
Learn more
We’re working to provide additional information, as it becomes available. Vaccine supply is very limited at first, and it will gradually be available to more Alaskans over time. Alaska uses a phased approach to make the vaccine available. The State of Alaska COVID-19 Vaccination Plan: Allocation Guidelines (PDF) explain the process.
Provide input
More information about the meeting, and how to provide comment, is available at the Alaska Vaccine Allocation Advisory Committee webpage.
Eligibility Footnotes
Phase 1b criteria
Updated Feb 10, 2021 replacing previous definitions
1. High risk medical conditions are limited to the following based on risk-factors for severe COVID-19–associated illness:
- cancer
- chronic kidney disease
- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- Down Syndrome
- heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, or cardiomyopathies
- immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from solid organ transplant
- obesity or severe obesity (body mass index [BMI] greater than 30 kg/m2) (see calculator)
- sickle cell disease
- smoking
- type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus
- pregnancy
2. Frontline essential workers are defined as people who are working in sectors essential to the functioning of society and are at substantially higher risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 because their work-related duties must be performed on-site and involve being in close proximity (<6 feet) to the public or to coworkers. For further criteria, see the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) advisory list (PDF). Including, but not limited to:
- Law enforcement, public safety, and other first responders
- Education (including people not covered in Phase 1b Tier 2)
- Food and Agriculture (Food manufacturers, distributors, restaurant workers, seafood workers, grocery store workers)
- Energy (electricity, petroleum, Natural Gas, utility and power workers)
- Water and Wastewater
- Transportation and Logistics (Public transit workers, aviation workers, taxi drivers, port workers, bus drivers, U.S. Postal Service workers and mail carriers, warehouse operators)
- Public Works and Infrastructure Support Service
- Critical Manufacturing
- Communications and Information Technology
- Other Community-or Government-Based Operations and Essential Functions
- Critical Manufacturing
- Hazardous Materials
- Financial Services
- Chemical
- Defense Industrial Base
- Commercial Facilities
- Residential/Shelter Facilities, Housing And Real Estate, and Related Services
- Hygiene Products and Services
3. Working in congregate settings includes people working in the judicial system whose job responsibilities require them to interact with individuals residing in congregate settings.
Phase 1a criteria
1. Long Term Care facilities included Skilled Nursing Facilities, Assisted Living Homes, and Dept of Corrections infirmaries providing care that is similar to an assisted living facility.
2. Particularly those performing the highest risk procedures or who spend extended periods of time bedside and whose absence from work would compromise the ability of the hospital to continue functioning. Personnel in this category include, but are not limited to:
ICU and COVID unit nurses, LPNs, CNAs and patient care technicians
ICU and COVID unit physicians
Inpatient physicians caring for COVID patients, including hospitalists
Respiratory therapists
Emergency department personnel
Personnel working in operating and other procedural rooms in which aerosol generating procedures are conducted.
Other hospital staff working in COVID units such as PT/OT/ST therapists, phlebotomists, etc.
Environmental services personnel
Facility security personnel
3. Particularly those personnel whose absence from work would compromise the ability of these critical medical services to continue. This Tier
< Continued >
includes personnel in certified ground-based and air medical services. This Tier also includes community health aides/health workers providing EMS services.
4. Workers in health care settings are eligible in Phase 1a only if they meet all criteria in a given tier. If a worker in a health care setting provides services that do not meet all the criteria in a specific tier will be eligible to receive the vaccine in a future phase. The terminology “workers in health care settings” is used instead of “healthcare workers or personnel” to guide health care organizations distributing the vaccine to consider the full spectrum of workers who meet these criteria. Health care organizations should evaluate all position types and duties to identify those who meet all three criteria regardless of where the work is performed (e.g., ambulatory, direct patient care, support services).
Workers in health care settings can include someone who stays home to care for an elderly family member. Eligible individuals provide daily support related to an individual’s activities of daily living (i.e. bathing, dressing, eating) as well as instrumental activities of daily living (i.e. shopping, laundry, light housework). These may be paid, unpaid, or contracted positions. This may also include teachers or other school staff that provide health care activities for students including tube feedings, suctioning, and other hands on healthcare.
Special attention should be paid to workers in health care settings who are at high-risk for exposure and may have inconsistent or limited use of PPE and those working in settings with inadequate environmental controls for recommended air exchange. (High-Risk Health Workers as defined in the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2020 Framework for Equitable Allocation of COVID-19 Vaccine. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25917. Pages 113-117.)