The second year of pandemic in the Arctic: examining spatiotemporal dynamics of the COVID-19 “Delta wave” in Arctic regions in 2021

Abstract

The second year of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Arctic was dominated by the Delta wave that primarily lasted between July and December 2021 with varied epidemiological outcomes. An analysis of the Arctic’s subnational COVID-19 data revealed a massive increase in cases and deaths across all its jurisdictions but at varying time periods. However, the case fatality ratio (CFR) in most Arctic regions did not rise dramatically and was below national levels (except in Northern Russia). Based on the spatiotemporal patterns of the Delta outbreak, we identified four types of pandemic waves across Arctic regions: Tsunami (Greenland, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Northern Norway, Northern Finland, and Northern Canada), Superstorm (Alaska), Tidal wave (Northern Russia), and Protracted Wave (Northern Sweden). These regionally varied COVID-19 epidemiological dynamics are likely attributable to the inconsistency in implementing public health prevention measures, geographical isolation, and varying vaccination rates. A lesson remote and Indigenous communities can learn from the Arctic is that the three-prong (delay-prepare-respond) approach could be a tool in curtailing the impact of COVID-19 or future pandemics. This article is motivated by previous research that examined the first and second waves of the pandemic in the Arctic. Data are available at https://arctic.uni.edu/arctic-covid-19 .

Did text-based news-media coverage about the COVID-19 pandemic increase vaccine uptake? A population-based study in Alaska

“…The successful rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in coordination with Tribal Health Care organisations [ 28 , 30 ] is one such example where vaccines were effectively messaged to Alaska Native people and taken up at a higher rate. A detailed case study of this effort may be useful for other cultural groups or organisational structures to use as a framework for successfully rolling out new vaccines.…”

“…Before this open-eligibility date for vaccines, Alaska often led the US in per capita vaccinations with between 13% and 14% of its population vaccinated in late February and early March 2021 [ 26 , 27 ]. For a period after 9 March until May 2021, Alaska was also a leader within the Arctic, along with Northern Canada, where just under 40% (Alaska) and 50% (Northern Canada) of their respective populations were fully vaccinated in May [ 28 ]. The strong collaboration between Alaska’s Tribal Health Care System and the state has been credited with much of this early success [ 27 , 29 ].…”

Prevalence and factors associated with healthcare avoidance during the COVID-19 pandemic among the Sámi in Sweden: the SámiHET study

“…A study by Tiwari et al examining the spatiotemporal dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic “Delta wave” during the second year of the pandemic in the Arctic regions showed that cumulative confirmed cases of COVID-19 were 58,609 while the cumulative confirmed deaths were 502 with a case fatality ratio of 0.9% in Northern Sweden [ 18 ]. However, due to lack of data disaggregated by ethnicity, no specific data is available on case numbers of COVID-19, deaths from COVID-19, or any other aspects related to the COVID-19 pandemic among the Sámi in Sweden.…”

Indigenous health-care sovereignty defines resilience to the COVID-19 pandemic

“…1 Although these numbers are devastating, the COVID-19 pandemic was less severe in many remote and Indigenous Arctic communities than in southern parts of the Arctic states. 2 For example, the COVID-19 case–fatality ratios in most boroughs of Alaska with a majority Indigenous population ranged from 0·1% to 0·4%, compared with 1·1% in the USA as a whole. 1 COVID-19 death rates in Greenland, the Canadian Arctic, and the Norwegian Arctic were 2–3 times lower than the overall rates for Denmark, Canada, and Norway.…”

“…Other health-care systems in the Arctic with substantial control by Indigenous Peoples include those in Canada and Greenland, which have shown similar outcomes to that of Alaska in the COVID-19 pandemic. 2 , 7 …”