State gives Whatcom 2,370 first doses of COVID vaccine and 2,600 second doses this week
The 400 slots available for the first mass-vaccination clinic in Whatcom County filled up within two hours on Wednesday morning, March 10, the health department said.
More than 200 people are on the vaccine standby list, meaning whoever is next in line will get vaccinated if someone with an appointment doesn’t show up, officials told The Bellingham Herald.
The Community Vaccination Center will run 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Building G at Bellingham Technical College, 3028 Lindbergh Ave., and will give the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Vaccination for those who are eligible under the state’s phased rollout was by appointment only.
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 8, the state allocated 2,370 first doses and 2,600 second doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Whatcom County providers.
The number of first doses includes 1,200 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which requires one dose to complete the series, according to a vaccine update from the Whatcom County Health Department.
Those numbers don’t include vaccine doses that the federal government sends directly to Native American tribes, long-term care facilities and pharmacies.
Vaccine town hall
The Whatcom County Health Department is hosting an online town hall on Thursday, March 18, to provide an update on vaccine distribution.
It will run 5:30-6:30 p.m. , and will be live-streamed on Whatcom County government’s YouTube channel.
Whatcom vaccination update
Monday’s state vaccination report said that as of 11:59 p.m. Saturday, March 6, Whatcom County had administered 49,273 vaccinations — an increase of 7,773 vaccinations (up 18.73%) from Wednesday’s report. Statewide, the number of vaccine doses administered increased 10.73% from Friday’s report (200,122 doses administered).
An average of 1,656 Whatcom County residents per day received a vaccination dose from Feb. 28 to March 6, up from the 1,158 seven-day average on Friday. Vaccination data is released Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
The state estimates that 18.45% of the county (or 41,569 residents) has received its first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 8.93% of the county (or 20,128 residents) is fully vaccinated. Whatcom is now ahead of the statewide 17.34% of residents receiving the first dose, but still behind the 9.95% 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 (61,697 combined first and second doses received) is 20.1% higher (12,424 doses) than the 49,273 doses administered in the county.
The only counties with higher rates are Douglas, which is next to a state mass vaccination site in Wenatchee, and Franklin, which is next to a state mass vaccination site in Kennewick.
— David Rasbach, drasbach@bhamherald.com
Who is eligible for vaccination
Washington state is allowing vaccinations by phases. Check yours online.
Most of 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 was adding educators and licensed childcare workers to its Phase 1B-1 group starting March 2 and they could seek appointments immediately.
The addition means that about 5,000 more Whatcom County residents can now be vaccinated.
The county has 4,829 people employed in preK-12 education fields and 161 child care workers, according to The Bellingham Herald’s analysis of Washington State Employment Security Department data.
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:
▪ Critical workers who work in certain congregate settings, including agriculture, food processing, grocery stores, public transit, firefighters, law enforcement, and workers in prisons and jails.
▪ Pregnant women and those with disabilities that put them at high risk.
Gov. Jay Inslee has announced plans to move to this tier beginning March 22.
Where to get vaccinated
As of Wednesday, 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 said on Monday afternoon that it wasn’t scheduling vaccine appointments this week for first doses, and expressed ongoing frustration about receiving what it said was an “extremely small amount of vaccine.”
It continues to offer same-day appointments for when an extra dose can be drawn from a vial of COVID-19 vaccine.
Same-day appointments — a maximum of 15 slots —will be scheduled by phone only starting at 2 p.m. on Thursday, March 11.
Call the vaccine scheduling line at 360-733-1342 at that time.
▪ PeaceHealth: Its St. Joseph hospital has cold-storage facilities that allow it to receive the Pfizer vaccine. It also receives the Moderna vaccine. It is offering vaccine appointments to community health care workers, PeaceHealth patients who have seen a primary care doctor or specialist within the last three years, patients of other area medical providers, school district employees and licensed child care workers.
The health care provider says it also is vaccinating those who are underserved, especially communities where English is not the first or primary language, communities of color who have experienced treatment bias and/or racism in health care settings, and communities that face other challenges such as being homebound. Organizations sent PeaceHealth lists of eligible individuals in the 1B1 category that it could contact for appointments.
“The supply we anticipate receiving this week plus the additional doses on hand will be adequate to provide approximately 3,200 first doses, and about 900 booster (second) doses,” PeaceHealth said in its weekly vaccine update post on Monday, March 8.
▪ Sea Mar: Has a first-come, first-served walk-in system, but check availability online first. As of an update at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 10, Sea Mar had no Pfizer vaccine for its clinics in Bellingham and Everson, but it was available at some of its other clinics in the state.
▪ Unity Care NW: The health care provider said it will contact eligible patients to schedule vaccinations as it gets more doses.
“You may get a text or email from our partner Luma Health. This is a legitimate and safe way to secure your vaccine appointment,” Unity Care said on its website.
▪ Department of Health map: It can be found on a website that lists some vaccine providers in Whatcom and other parts of the state. Because vaccine supply is very limited, the featured providers may not have vaccine or may be fully booked.
The map is at covidvaccineWA.org, which also breaks out the information for the county in a list. The information is different between the two, so check both.
Only providers that want to be are listed. There also 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 and Sea Mar, 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 10, 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 has been launched by a coalition of Whatcom County health care providers and the health department based on vaccine supply.
The first clinic is Saturday, March 13, at Bellingham Technical College. Appointments are required, although all available spots for Saturday have been booked.
People also could seek an appointment by calling 360-778-6075 if they don’t have internet access, an email address, or need language interpretation help.
Officials hope to hold weekly clinics on Saturdays, with the goal of adding more days. That all depends on vaccine availability and staffing.
Learn more about the clinic, what to expect, and directions for driving or taking public transportation to BTC by going to whatcomcounty.us/covidvaccine and clicking on Community Vaccination Center on the right.
▪ Skagit County: The Health Department has set up a mass-vaccination site at the fairgrounds in Mount Vernon but vaccinations depend on vaccine supply.
Online registration was open on Wednesday morning at prepmod.doh.wa.gov, although a quick check didn’t show any available appointments.
People who don’t have internet access, don’t speak English as a first language, or have struggled to access a vaccine clinic through the website can call its vaccine hotline at 360-416-1500. Call takers who speak English and Spanish are available.
The hotline is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
New appointments are announced each Saturday at 9 a.m. on skagitcounty.net/covidvaccine. Appointments may be added throughout the week depending on vaccine availability.
People who received their first dose elsewhere can’t get their second dose at the Skagit vaccination site.
▪ 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.
Officials said the Ridgefield, Wenatchee and Kennewick sites will once again provide first dose appointments this week.
See what’s available at prepmod.doh.wa.gov.
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.
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: Also referred to as Janssen, it 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 10, 2021 at 12:32 PM.
