Whatcom County surpasses COVID-19 vaccination milestones, state reports Wednesday
Whatcom County surpassed three COVID-19 vaccination milestones, according to data reported on the Washington State Department of Health’s COVID-19 Data Dashboard Wednesday, Sept. 29.
A total of 256,188 vaccine doses have been administered in the county, according to the dashboard, which was an increase of 782 doses from the state’s last vaccine report on Monday, Sept. 27.
That increase was enough to push Whatcom County to 60% of all residents completing vaccination, the state reported, as 135,713 residents have now completed a vaccination cycle.
The state also estimates than 75% of all Whatcom residents who are eligible to receive a COVID vaccine — those 12 and older — have initiated vaccination and that more than 70% of all Whatcom residents 16 and over now have completed vaccination.
A total of 148,332 residents in the county have initiated vaccination, which represents 65.4% of the total population.
The latest report on the state dashboard also shows Whatcom County has:
▪ 13,488 confirmed cases during the pandemic — up 22 cases from the last report. That was the smallest reported increase Whatcom has seen since it had eight cases reported Aug. 10.
▪ 1,033 probable COVID cases during the pandemic — up 14 from the last report — resulting from positive antigen tests not confirmed by a molecular test.
▪ A 14-day infection rate of 446.1 cases per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological data from Sept. 8-21 — lower than the 501.8 rate one week earlier (Sept. 1-14).
▪ 713 COVID-related hospitalizations during the pandemic — up four from the last report. St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported it was treating 22 patients with COVID-related symptoms on Thursday, Sept. 30 — up one from the last report.
▪ A weekly COVID-related hospitalization rate of 10.5 patients per 100,000 residents for the most recently completed epidemiological hospitalization data from Sept. 14-20 — down from 13.6 a week earlier (Sept. 7-13).
▪ 134 COVID-related deaths during the pandemic — unchanged from the last report.
▪ The state has stopped updating the number of completed tests until Oct. 31, as it works “to increase its capacity to process the increased testing data volume received in the last few months.”
Additionally, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Data Tracker Thursday listed Whatcom’s level of transmission as “High” — the highest of four categories. All 39 counties in Washington state were listed in the “High” transmission category, and 94.1% of all counties nationwide were “High.”
Whatcom public schools COVID update
The Bellingham Public Schools COVID-19 dashboard has reported 42 total cases so far this school year, including six new cases in the past week:
▪ One new case at Fairhaven Middle School reported Sept. 13-17. One other case had previously been reported at the school during the same period.
▪ One new case at Squalicum High School reported Sept. 20-25.
▪ One new case at Fairhaven Middle School reported Sept. 20-25.
▪ One new case at Roosevelt Elementary School reported Sept. 20-25.
▪ One new case at Alderwood Elementary School reported Sept. 20-25.
▪ One new case at Squalicum High School reported Sept. 27 through Oct. 1.
All close contacts of those who tested positive have been notified, according to the dashboard.
The Blaine School District COVID-19 dashboard has reported 53 total cases so far this school year.
The Mount Baker School District COVID-19 dashboard has reported 11 cases so far this school year, including one new case reported Sept. 9-15 at Acme Elementary. Two other cases had previously been reported at the school during the same period.
The Ferndale School District’s COVID-19 Updates page reports that 13 students or staff have had a positive test reported to the Whatcom County Health Department in the past seven days, 12 of whom were on a school campus during their infectious period.
The COVID dashboard for the Lynden School District has not been updated this school year, while COVID case information could not be found on the websites for the Meridian or Nooksack Valley school districts.
This story was originally published September 30, 2021 at 11:56 AM.
CORRECTION: The percentage of Whatcom County residents 12 and older who have imitated vaccination was corrected Sept. 30, 2021.
