Vaccine update: about 5,000 more Whatcom residents now eligible for COVID-19 vaccine
Gov. Jay Inslee’s announcement Tuesday that educators and childcare workers in Washington state are now able to receive the COVID-19 vaccine means approximately 5,000 more Whatcom County residents potentially just became eligible to be vaccinated.
Inslee’s announcement followed President Joe Biden’s direction for states to prioritize those workers and add preK-12 educators and staff and licensed childcare workers as a currently eligible group.
As a result, the state added educators and licensed childcare workers to Washington state’s Phase 1B-1, which is the current phase and tier. They can seek vaccine appointments immediately, according to Inslee.
The tier was previously limited to people 65 and older and those 50 and older living in multigenerational households.
Whatcom County has 4,829 people employed in preK-12 education fields and 161 childcare workers, according to The Bellingham Herald’s analysis of Washington State Employment Security Department data. Most of them should now be eligible to receive the vaccine following Inslee’s announcement.
“The Washington state Department of Health will have more specific information soon on how those workers can access vaccines,” Inslee’s statement reads. “Phase Finder may take time to reflect these changes, but educators and licensed childcare workers can schedule with providers right away.”
Vaccines will likely be primarily delivered via the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program, according to the state Department of Health; however, “the directive indicates all vaccine providers should prioritize these workers.”
The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and medical care provider Kaiser Permanente in late January announced an initiative to vaccinate teachers, once eligible, via 14-20 locations along the Interstate 5 corridor and in Spokane.
The office is working with Kaiser to figure out how Tuesday’s announcements will complement that work, according to OSPI spokesperson Katy Payne. The office expects the shift in priorities to speed up the pace for districts working to return to or expand in-person learning. About 36% of students in the state are receiving at least some learning in-person, according to OSPI.
—Sara Gentzler (sgentzler@mcclatchy.com) contributed to this item.
Vaccine update
Here is the latest on who is eligible for the COVID-19 virus vaccine and where you can get it in Whatcom County. The information is frequently updated as vaccine availability changes.
The Washington State Department of Health allocates vaccines it receives from the federal government based, in part, on reported need and providers’ ability to properly store and distribute doses. These allocations are going to state clinics and county clinics, private and public health care clinics, and pharmacies.
For the week of March 1, the state Department of Health allocated 11,030 first vaccine doses to Whatcom County and 1,900 second doses, the Whatcom County Health Department reported. That is a 334% increase from the 2,540 first doses and a 123% increase over the 5,810 total doses the County was scheduled to receive last week.
Finding a vaccination appointment remains challenging, although public health officials continue to say that the supply should increase in the coming weeks.
Demand still far exceeds supply, according to the Washington State Department of Health’s update on Thursday, Feb. 25.
This past week, vaccine providers in the state asked for a total of 436,720 doses. The federal government sent 263,570 doses to the Department of Health for distribution.
Federal allocations to the state are projected to increase over the next three weeks, according to the update:
▪ Week of Feb. 28: 279,800 total doses (156,640 first doses, 123,160 second doses).
▪ Week of March 7: 285,200 doses (156,640 first, 128,560 second).
▪ Week of March 14: 313,280 doses (156,640 first, 156,640 second).
New vaccine approved
In addition, the state likely will be allocated 60,900 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine this week after the Federal Drug Administration gave emergency use authorization.
On Wednesday, Inslee announced the authorization of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine by the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup as part of the Western States Pact.
“The Workgroup’s authorization gives us further confidence around the safety and efficacy of the J & J vaccine,” Inslee said in a release. “Like the other two, this vaccine offers strong protection against serious illness from COVID-19, which is critical in our fight against this deadly virus.”
Unlike the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which require a primary dose and a booster dose three to four weeks later, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires just one dose.
“With the delivery of the J & J vaccine this week, and overall increase in the number of vaccine doses coming to Washington, we have increased our capacity to get vaccine to all parts of the state,” Inslee said. “We are making good progress on vaccination rates, and this third vaccine will help our efforts to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible.”
The federal government allocation to Washington state is one vaccine stream.
Other streams are the doses the federal government sends directly to Native American tribes and retail pharmacies that in turn vaccinate long-term care facilities and others in the public who are eligible. These doses are not reflected in weekly state allocation numbers, so it’s not known exactly how much vaccine is coming to Whatcom County.
Who is eligible for vaccination
Washington state is allowing vaccinations by phases. Check yours online.
Those in phase 1B, tier 1, have been eligible for vaccination 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 50 and unable 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.
▪ Under the direction of President Biden, Washington state announced it added educators and licensed childcare workers to Washington state’s Phase 1B-1 group Tuesday, and they can seek appointments immediately.
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.
The date for when this group can get vaccinated hasn’t been announced.
Where to get vaccinated
As of Wednesday, March 3, most of these health care systems have an appointment-only process and those seeking appointments should do so online.
Some have 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.
Vaccine supply remains limited.
▪ Associates in Family Medicine: Says its vaccine supply remains limited. It asks people to fill out a form online for contact when more doses are available.
▪ 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. It is not maintaining a waitlist.
The health care provider didn’t schedule first-dose appointments last week, but began taking appointments on Tuesday, March 2. It said some same-day appointments may be available this week. If they are available this week, same-day appointments will be scheduled only by phone (360-733-1342) after the phone lines open at 3 p.m. Wednesday, March 3, and 2 p.m. Thursday, March 4. Calls will be answered in the order they are received, and a busy signal means phone lines are full and it is best to try calling back.
“FCN was allocated only 100 first doses this week, plus enough to complete this week’s previously scheduled second dose appointments,” Family Care Network’s vaccine update said. “It will remain difficult to get an appointment at FCN with such a limited allocation. Local pharmacies continue to get allocations directly from the federal government and may have appointments available.”
▪ PeaceHealth: Vaccine appointments are available only for community health care workers and PeaceHealth Medical Group patients who are eligible based on Washington state guidelines. Patients whose medical records (age, medical conditions) indicate eligibility will be called or emailed about scheduling an appointment. PeaceHealth is not maintaining a waitlist. St. Joseph hospital has cold-storage facilities that allow it to receive the Pfizer vaccine. It also receives the Moderna vaccine.
PeaceHealth said Monday it is expecting to receive enough shipments of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines the week of Feb. 28 to March 6 to provide approximately 4,440 first doses of the Pfizer vaccine and more than 1,500 second doses of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.
PeaceHealth reported it is collaborating with the Whatcom County Health Department and is contacting other health care providers in the area that serve vulnerable populations to help identify eligible vaccine recipients in the 1A and 1B1 phases.
“We anticipate that these entities will supply PeaceHealth with a list of eligible patients who will, in turn, receive a phone call from PeaceHealth to schedule an appointment,” PeaceHealth’s weekly vaccine status statement says.
“These eligible patients will join PeaceHealth patients who are 77 years of age or older and who have a relationship with a PeaceHealth primary or specialty care provider. As in previous weeks, PeaceHealth patients will be notified through the PeaceHealth patient portal or via a phone call. PeaceHealth will continue to reduce the age limit throughout the week, reaching out to eligible patients following the same notification process.”
The vaccine clinic at the Health Education Center on the St. Joseph hospital campus will be open Tuesday through Saturday this week, PeaceHealth reported.
“We will continue to work closely with the county health leadership to ensure an equitable distribution of vaccine across providers and patient populations, requesting more vaccine supply each week,” PeaceHealth’s statement read.
▪ Sea Mar: Has a first-come, first-served walk-in system, but check availability online first. As of an update at 5:15 a.m. Wednesday, March 3, Sea Mar had vaccine available at its Bellingham Medical and Everson Medical locations, as well as a number of other locations around the state, including Marysville Medical, Mount Vernon Medical and Mount Vernon Skagit Valley Women’s Clinic.
▪ Unity Care NW: The health care provider continues to say that its vaccine supply remains “very low” and that it will contact eligible patients to schedule vaccinations when it receives doses.
▪ Department of Health map: It can be found on a website that lists some vaccine providers in Whatcom and other parts of Washington. Because vaccine supply is very limited, the featured providers may not have vaccine or may be fully booked.
The map is at covidvaccineWA.org.
Only providers that want to be are listed, and those listed have changed since last week. Also new is information on whether the listed providers have vaccine appointments available, although not all providers are updating the availability information in a timely manner.
In addition to Associates in Family Medicine, the list for Whatcom County now includes Costco on Arctic Avenue; Ferndale Pharmacy on Alder Street; Fred Meyer on Lakeway Drive; Haggen on Woburn Street; Mt. Shuksan Family Medicine and Dermatology on Cornwall Avenue; Safeway on Guide Meridian Road; and Nooksack Valley Drug on East Main Street in Everson.
▪ Federal pharmacy program: The federal government has started to send vaccines directly to retail pharmacies to create new access for people who are eligible.
In Washington state, participating pharmacies include Albertsons Companies (Safeway, Haggen and Albertsons); Costco; and Health Mart Independent Pharmacies.
Albertsons officials said its in-store pharmacies started giving vaccinations on Feb. 11, adding that people can check for appointments at one website, mhealthappointments.com/covidappt. A check on Wednesday, March 3, showed that no appointments were available.
The state said that more chain pharmacies in Washington are joining the program because allocation is expected to increase. The pharmacies are Walmart, Rite Aid and Kroger (Fred Meyer and QFC).
Check whether Rite Aid is scheduling vaccine appointments at riteaid.com/pharmacy/covid-qualifier.
Pharmacies also can receive vaccines from the state Department of Health.
Government sites
▪ Whatcom County: A mass COVID-19 vaccination effort will be launched by a coalition of Whatcom County health care providers and the health department in March, provided there is vaccine supply, public health officials said.
“Our intention is not to compete with providers who have relationships with their patients and who are trying to get those folks in for appointments but to allow for more broad-based vaccination efforts,” Erika Lautenbach, director of the Whatcom County Health Department, said to the County Council during a COVID-19 briefing on Feb. 23.
Public health officials and Whatcom providers are getting ready for the clinic, which will be at Bellingham Technical College. More details are coming, officials said.
▪ Skagit County: The Health Department has set up a mass-vaccination site at the fairgrounds in Mount Vernon but vaccinations depend on vaccine supply.
Last week, Skagit County Public Health reported registering 600 people on Saturday for first doses — the same number of first doses the site received the week before. More appointments will likely be available at approximately 9 a.m. Saturday, March 6, when the county is informed of its next allotment, according to the county’s vaccine website.
Online registration is closed at https://www.skagitcounty.net/Departments/HealthDiseases/coronavirusvaccine.htm, but appointments will be added if spaces become available.
▪ Washington: 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.
One-stop help
Volunteers have stepped forward to help people find vaccines or find them easier. Both are online.
▪ CovidWA.com is compiling just about all of the available vaccine appointments throughout the state, according to a KING 5 story. Users type in their zip code to get the information, and they may have to travel to get their shots.
▪ Find a COVID shot WA, a private group on Facebook, has what it calls “search party volunteers” that help people find appointments if they post using #searching. It has nearly 26,000 members.
The group also focuses on obtaining vaccine appointments for those most affected by COVID-19 — people with disabilities, those who are 70 years and older, people with limited English, and those who are Black, Indigenous and people of color. Vaccine seekers in these categories post using #support.
In addition, Whatcom County residents trying to find vaccine appointments but who don’t have a computer or internet access are being advised to call the state Department of Health toll-free hotline at 1-800-525-0127, then press #.
Hotline hours are:
▪ 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday.
▪ 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and on observed state holidays.
Vaccination report
Monday’s vaccination report said that as of 11:59 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27, Whatcom County had administered 36,700 vaccinations — an increase of 4,413 vaccinations (an increase of 12.02%) from Friday’s report. An average of 552 Whatcom County residents per day received a vaccination dose from Feb. 21-27, up from the 501 seven-day average on Friday. Vaccination data is released Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons.
The state estimates that 13.75% of the county (or 30,969 residents) has received its first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 7.14% of the county (or 16,083 residents) is 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.
In fact, Whatcom County residents are having to travel outside the county to receive the vaccine at a higher rate than most of the rest of the state, according to data analysis by The Bellingham Herald, as the total number of vaccine doses received by Whatcom County residents (47,052 combined first and second doses received) is 22.0% higher (10,352 doses) than the 36,700 doses administered in the county. The only counties with higher rates are Douglas, which is next to a state mass vaccination site in Wenatchee; Franklin, which is next to a state mass vaccination site in Kennewick; and Clark, which has a state mass vaccination site in Ridgefield.
According to an analysis of Monday’s data by The Herald, Whatcom residents have received approximately 2.81% of the 1,676,787 total vaccine doses given in the state — up from 2.78% in Friday’s report. But the county has administered only 2.19% of the state’s total — up from 2.15% in Friday’s report — and has administered the 12th-most doses in the state. For comparison, Whatcom County represents 3.0% of the state’s total population and is the state’s ninth-largest county, according to 2019 U.S. Census estimates.
Based on 2019 five-year population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, The Herald’s analysis of Friday’s data found Whatcom County has administered 0.17 doses of vaccine per resident, which ranks 31st in the state. With residents traveling to get the vaccine, Whatcom County has received 0.21 doses of vaccine per resident, which ranks 25th in the state. Both are behind the overall state average of 0.23 doses per resident.
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.
▪ Johnson & Johnson: Approved by the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup Wednesday and first shipments are expected this week. Requires only one dose; authorized for people 18 years and older; 66.9% effective.
The CDC provides more information about the vaccines.
This story was originally published March 3, 2021 at 12:01 PM.
