A group of women have taken on the perilous journey of traveling to rural Alaska to vaccinate some of the countries most at-risk residents…
Some of the most remote areas of our country are finally getting access to the COVID-19 vaccine…
Due to an all-female team of health care workers. Keep scrolling to watch them in action…
The team consists of 1 pharmacist, 1 medical doctor, and 2 nurses who traveled to northern Alaska for the sole purpose of saving lives.
In subzero temperatures, the team carried the COVID-19 vaccine off an Alaskan “bush plane,” and onto a sled attached to a snowmobile.
After arriving by snowmobile at their location…
A local villager pulled them the rest of the way to vaccinate those most at risk.
Twenty-five-year-old Meredith Dean talked about the journey on Good Morning America…
“It’s challenging getting the vaccine up here to begin with and then getting it out to the villages brings on a whole new set of challenges and logistical issues. Time is of the utmost importance.”
It was a difficult job to reach the elders who require a home visit…
Dr. Katrine Bengaard and nurse Heather Kenison traveled by snowmobile from each village until everyone was vaccinated.
Kenison even had to put the COVID-19 vaccine under her coat for the entire ride…
Due to the cold air freezing the vaccine.
“We did the best we could, we had to kind of come up with it in the moment,” Bengaard said.
By the looks of it, they definitely did more than that.
Bengaard and the nurse managed to deliver and administer the vaccine successfully.
The ninety-two-year-old who they vaccinated told them stories of her parents and the 1918 Spanish flu that wiped out native Alaskans.
Bengaard went on to say…
“It was very important for her family that she be vaccinated so that she be given a better chance for this pandemic,” said Bengaard. “The 1918 flu was really devastating to some of the communities up here and it was just wonderful to be able to offer that to her.”
The 4 health care workers together traveled hundreds of miles delivering a total of sixty-five vaccinations…
Which is no mean feat.
Alaskan state Sen. Donny Olson was vaccinated recently…
And took to Facebook to thank health care workers for their efforts.
He wrote…
“No matter the circumstances, no matter the weather, they are going out there by snow machine, by sled, by boat, by plane, whatever it takes and for their efforts, I am so grateful!”
But they aren’t the only nurses who traveled to distribute the vaccines…
Other groups of nurses have also traveled to deliver vaccines to remote areas of the country. However, the cold weather doesn’t always allow for safe travel.
Capt. Curt Jackson said he did not realize he was transporting COVID-19 vaccines as he sailed his boat over rough seas, describing the journey as a “bumpy ride.”
“This woman kind of clutches this blue box a little bit more,” he said the moment he realized he was transporting the vaccine. “All of a sudden the boat starts to take this big 30-degree swing, I mean it’s pounding through, so I tried to go as slow as possible.”
Jackson described his emotions after landing in Seldovia, Alaska…
“I was definitely emotionally choked up feeling like this was a moment where we kind of were starting to do something positive here,” he said.
He added that he told the nurses who were travelling on his boat they were his “heroes.” After asking to take a photo with them, the nurses replied, “You’re our hero.”
We totally agree. What incredible women!
Keep scrolling for more…