There were 300 slots. They were snatched up in 5 minutes, and other Whatcom vaccine news
Here is the latest on who is eligible for the COVID-19 virus vaccine and where can you get it in Whatcom County. The information is frequently updated as vaccine availability changes.
Washington state allocates vaccines it receives from the federal government, based in part on reported need and providers’ ability to properly store and distribute, to state clinics, county clinics and private and public health care clinics and pharmacies.
For the week of Feb. 8, Whatcom County providers were allocated 3,275 first doses of vaccine.
Getting enough vaccine doses for Washington remains an issue, the state Department of Health said in a release on Wednesday, Feb. 10.
“Supply from the federal government continues to be our greatest challenge. This week our providers requested more than 440,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine, including 281,100 first doses and 165,750 second doses. In all, we received just over 200,000 doses from the federal government, which is less than half,” the state agency said in the release.
But it says the supply is expected to increase, providing optimism.
“We have been told by the federal government that allocations for both Pfizer and Moderna will increase in the coming weeks and months,” the state said.
State officials said that, for the first time, the federal government is providing a three-week forecast of vaccine supply, adding that information will help with planning and predictability.
▪ Week of Feb. 14: 206,125 total doses (113,800 first doses, 92,325 second doses).
▪ Week of Feb. 21: 240,620 total (123,160 first, 117,460 second).
▪ Week of Feb. 28: 242,360 total (128,560 first, 113,800 second).
Vaccination dashboard
The state’s vaccination report for Wednesday, Feb. 10, said that as of 11:59 p.m. Monday, Feb. 8, Whatcom County had administered 18,891 doses — an increase of 441 from Monday’s report, which was through 11:59 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 6.
An average of 320.3 Whatcom County residents per day received a dose from Feb. 2 to Feb. 8, down from the 340 seven-day average on Monday.
The state releases vaccination data on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
The state estimates that 8.74% of the county’s residents (or approximately 19,691 people) have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 2.26% of Whatcom residents (or about 5,092 people) are fully vaccinated.
The number of vaccines given and people vaccinated may not match, according to the dashboard, because people may be vaccinated in counties other than where they live.
According to the data released Wednesday, Whatcom residents have received about 1.9% of the 987,682 total vaccine doses administered in the state — down from 2% in Monday’s report — and has administered the 12th-most doses in the state.
For comparison, Whatcom County represents 3% of the state’s total population and is the state’s ninth-largest county, according to 2019 U.S. Census estimates.
Who is eligible for vaccination
Washington state is allowing vaccinations by phases. Check yours online.
Vaccinations have been available to those in phase 1B, tier 1, since Jan. 18:
▪ All people 65 years and older.
▪ People 50 years and older in multi-generational households where they live with and care for their parents or a grandchild.
▪ People who are over the age of 50 and are not able to live independently, who either receive long-term care from a paid or unpaid caregiver or are living with someone who works outside the home.
Not eligible in this phase are people younger than 50, people over 50 who care for a partner or friend, or any parent or guardian caring for their small child or teen.
Previously and still eligible for vaccination from phase 1A:
▪ High-risk health care workers.
▪ High-risk first responders.
▪ Residents and staff of congregate living settings such as nursing homes.
▪ All other workers in health care settings who are at risk.
Next up, but not yet eligible, will be tier 2 of phase 1B, which includes:
▪ Workers 50 years and older who work in certain congregate settings, including agriculture, food processing, correction facilities, grocery stores, public transit, educators, child care.
The date for when this group can get vaccinated hasn’t been announced.
Where to get vaccinated
As of Thursday, Feb. 11, most of these health care systems have an appointment-only process and those seeking appointments should do so online. Some said they will reach out to qualified patients themselves. Many sites were seeing phone systems overloaded with those seeking vaccines and ask people not to call to inquire about getting their shots.
▪ Family Care Network: Is providing the Moderna vaccine and will schedule appointments for its established, specific, high-risk patients in eligible tiers as supplies become available.
The 300 vaccine appointments that Family Care Network offered starting at 11 a.m. Wednesday filled up within five minutes. People had trouble with a slow website or encountered busy signals on the phone.
In response, the organization said it would continue to monitor its phone lines and website capacity to “ensure that appropriate resources are allocated in these areas.”
“The difficult reality is that no matter how we approach the current imbalance of supply and demand, we can only vaccinate a small portion of our eligible patients,” Family Care Network wrote on its website on Wednesday. “We had 300 appointments for over 25,000 eligible patients, which means only 1% would get an appointment — and 99% would not.”
Family Care Network was scheduling appointments for vaccine doses it received last week. It hasn’t received any so far this week, Michele Anderson, its spokesperson said to The Bellingham Herald on Thursday.
It continues to work on same-day appointments for when an extra dose can be drawn from a vial of COVID vaccine, the health care provider said on its website.
There will be a maximum of 15 slots for same-day appointments, provided there are extra doses.
Same-day appointments will be scheduled by phone only starting at 1 p.m. on the following potential dates:
▪ Tuesday, Feb. 16.
▪ Thursday, Feb. 18.
▪ Tuesday, Feb. 23.
▪ Thursday, Feb. 25.
Call the vaccine scheduling line at 360-733-1342.
Anderson told The Herald that providers’ schedule with the state for vaccines is:
▪ Requests for vaccine submitted by end of day Monday.
▪ Notification of approval or denial by end of day Thursday.
▪ Shipments arrive Monday/Tuesday of the following week.
“We have not yet seen a week where all three of these were met,” she said.
▪ PeaceHealth: Vaccine appointments are only available for PeaceHealth Medical Group patients who are eligible based on Washington state guidelines. Patients whose medical records (age, medical conditions) indicate eligibility will be notified via email when they can schedule an appointment. PeaceHealth is not maintaining a wait list. St. Joseph hospital has cold-storage facilities that allows it to use the Pfizer vaccine. It also receives the Moderna vaccine.
On Tuesday, Feb. 9, PeaceHealth said it was getting 975 first doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 500 first doses of the Moderna vaccine this week, and that all have been allocated.
In a post on Nextdoor, PeaceHealth said it continues to vaccinate health care workers and high-risk patients 65 and older while beginning to vaccinate patients 87 and older who have established primary or specialist care with PeaceHealth providers.
▪ Sea Mar: Has a first-come, first-served walk-in system, but check availability online first. As of 6:45 a.m. Wednesday, Sea Mar said it had no doses of the Moderna vaccine, which is what it is distributing.
▪ Unity Care NW: The health care provider says its vaccine supply remains “very low” and that it will contact eligible patients to schedule vaccinations when it gets more doses.
The state also has an online map that lists some providers that are enrolled to receive vaccine doses and are vaccinating people. Because vaccine supply is very limited in Whatcom County, the featured providers may not have vaccine or may be fully booked.
Only providers who want to be on the map are listed. In addition to PeaceHealth and Sea Mar, the list so far includes Costco on Arctic Avenue; the two Fred Meyers on Lakeway Drive and West Bakerview Road; Haggen on Woburn Street; Safeway on Guide Meridian Road; and Mt. Shuksan Family Medicine and Dermatology on Cornwall Avenue.
Residents of long-term care facilities nationally are being vaccinated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in partnership with CVS, Walgreens and others.
The federal government is preparing, for the first time, to send vaccines directly to retail pharmacies, possibly in February — a move that would create new access for people who are eligible.
Government sites
▪ Whatcom County site: A mass COVID-19 vaccination effort could be launched by Whatcom County in late February or early March, possibly sooner — provided there is adequate supply, public health officials said during a briefing on Jan. 27.
With available doses this week, the Whatcom County Health Department said it is piloting a mobile vaccine clinic at a number of adult family homes to fill an existing gap.
▪ Skagit County site: The Health Department has set up a mass-vaccination site at the fairgrounds in Mount Vernon. But offering shots depends on vaccine supply.
“Due to lack of supply, no first dose appointments are available for the week of Feb. 15. Second dose appointments will not be impacted,” the Skagit health department wrote on its site.
People are encouraged to check the website at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 20, for an update.
▪ Washington sites: The state is offering large-scale vaccination in Spokane, Ridgefield, Wenatchee and Kennewick. They are open by appointment only to people who register and are eligible for the vaccine phase.
About the vaccines
Vaccines approved and currently available in Washington are:
▪ Pfizer: Requires two doses 21 days apart; authorized for people 16 years and older; 95% effective.
▪ Moderna: Requires two doses 28 days apart; authorized for people 18 years and older; 94.1% effective.
The CDC provides more information about the vaccines.
—The Bellingham Herald staff writers Kie Relyea (krelyea@bhamherald.com) and David Rasbach (drasbach@bhamherald.com) contributed to this story.
