National Guard is making sure these Whatcom communities are getting COVID-19 vaccinations
The Washington National Guard is giving the COVID-19 vaccine to seniors and others who are vulnerable in Whatcom County and have a hard time getting access to the shots, according to the Whatcom County Health Department.
The work is being done via a mobile vaccination clinic and is occurring over two weeks.
In that time, a National Guard team will administer 200 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and 500 doses of the Moderna vaccine at six facilities.
The team will return next month to give the second Moderna dose, the Whatcom County Health Department said in a news release.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires one dose.
The effort to vaccinate high-risk Whatcom residents is a collaboration of the Washington State Department of Health, the Washington National Guard and the Whatcom County Health Department. The state already has been working with the National Guard at its mass vaccination sites in Washington.
The 28-member National Guard team is focused on Whatcom, Skagit, San Juan, Island and Snohomish counties.
The National Guard has deployed three mobile units around Washington state, with this one serving northwest Washington as the newest.
“The National Guard’s support means that we’re able to get vaccines to some of our most vulnerable neighbors, such as seniors who have difficulty traveling to other vaccine providers,” said Erika Lautenbach, director of the Whatcom County Health Department.
“We’re grateful for their help in filling one of the gaps in how vaccines are administered in the county,” she added.
Last week, the mobile team vaccinated people in independent and senior living communities in Bellingham. They continued their work with clinics at Bellingham Housing Authority properties this week, according to the county health department.
The state Department of Health sent vaccine doses to the Whatcom County Health Department, which stored them until they could be used at each clinic.
Moving forward, could the mobile team be sent to vaccinate Whatcom residents who are homebound but don’t live in congregate settings?
“It’ll be an intermittent option as the team moves around the region,” the county health department said to The Bellingham Herald in an email. “They will be working with us to identify the best locations or groups for them to set up clinics.”
The Whatcom County Health Department said it will provide updates on vaccine availability as it gets the information at whatcomcounty.us/covidvaccine.
