How many Whatcom residents have been vaccinated? State and CDC data differs by 20,000
Data on the number of Whatcom County residents who have initiated vaccination reported by the Washington State Department of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention differs by nearly 20,000 people.
As of Wednesday, the state Department of Health reported that 133,248 people have begun the vaccination process, while the CDC is reporting 14.9% more with 153,051 vaccination starts in Whatcom.
Vaccination completions in the county also are off by 13.2%, with the state reporting 119,305 and the CDC reporting 135,112.
The state’s COVID dashboard recognizes the difference in the data on the statewide level, and attributed it to the CDC getting vaccination data directly from the U.S. Department of Defense, Veterans Affairs, Bureau of Prisons and a few other sources that do not funnel data directly to the Department of Health.
But could those sources possibly explain a difference of nearly 20,000 people in Whatcom County (or nearly 9% of our total population)?
“We’re also only aware of the DoD and VA vaccinations as the reason for the difference between DOH and CDC numbers, and you’re right that it’s highly unlikely that this is the explanation for a 20,000 dose difference,” Whatcom County Health Department spokesperson Melissa Morin told The Bellingham Herald in an email. “We don’t know of any other factors that would account for this difference, but we are checking with DOH to find out more.”
Morin went on to say that Whatcom County health officials can only speak to the accuracy of the number reported by Whatcom County vaccine providers through the Washington State Immunization Information System, which is what is seen on the state data dashboard.
“As we’ve become aware of gaps in that data — for example, vaccinations given by Lummi Nation and the Nooksack Tribe that weren’t entered into WAIIS — we’ve worked with the vaccine providers and the state Department of Health to make sure every shot gets counted in that system,” Morin said.
But perhaps the numbers aren’t as far off as they seem.
There are 14,306 veterans in Whatcom County, county Veterans Specialist Elizabeth Witowski told The Herald in an email. The VA also opened up vaccination to eligible dependents of veterans.
“I can’t guess how many took advantage of the program, but when you think about it, its actually not that hard to get to 20k people,” Witowski wrote, adding that as a veteran, she was able to get her vaccination at the VA months before she would have been eligible to receive it under the state’s guidelines.
With no military basis in Whatcom County, the number of Department of Defense employees would be small, Witowski said, though there are 55 U.S. Coast Guard service members in Bellingham and U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel were vaccinated at the VA because it was the closest federal installation to Whatcom County.
Morin recommended any Whatcom residents who have received a vaccination check their COVID vaccine records through MyIR or MyIR Mobile to ensure the vaccination was recorded properly. Anyone who cannot find their record on MyIR or has problems accessing the site should contact the provider that they got their vaccine from to get a copy of their vaccine record or contact the DOH hotline at 833-VAC-HELP.
