State allocates 2,540 first doses of COVID vaccine to Whatcom for week of Feb. 22
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.
Getting vaccinated remains challenging and frustrating as a nationwide shortage continues, recently made worse by winter storms that are delaying shipments in the rest of the state and nationwide.
For the week of Feb. 22, the state Department of Health allocated 2,540 first vaccine doses to Whatcom County.
But the largest health care providers in Whatcom County — PeaceHealth and Family Care Network — said their vaccine supply remains limited.
PeaceHealth said it doesn’t expect to get first doses from Washington state this week.
“No new appointments will be opened for scheduling this week due to limited vaccine allocation from the state,” Family Care Network said in an online post on Monday, Feb. 22.
Vaccination dashboard
The state’s vaccination report for Friday, Feb. 19, said that as of 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 17, Whatcom County had administered 27,711 vaccinations — an increase of 1,863 vaccinations from Wednesday’s report, which was through 11:59 p.m. Monday, Feb. 15.
An average of 843 Whatcom County residents per day received a vaccination dose from Feb. 11-17, down from the 881 seven-day average on Wednesday. Vaccination data is released Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
The state estimates that 11.2% of the county (or 25,224 residents) has received its first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 4.57% of the county (or 10,286 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 residents (35,510, combined first and second) is 22% higher (7,799 doses) than the 27,711 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.
According to the data released Friday, Whatcom residents have received approximately 2.8% of the 1,270,425 total vaccine doses given in the state — unchanged from Friday’s report.
But the county has administered only 2.2% of the state’s total — also unchanged from Friday’s report — and has administered the 11th-most doses in the state. For comparison, Whatcom County represents 3% of the state’s total population and is the state’s ninth-largest county, according to 2019 U.S. Census estimates.
—David Rasbach, drasbach@bhamherald.com
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.
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, educators and child care.
The date for when this group can get vaccinated hasn’t been announced.
The federal government allocation to Washington state is one vaccine stream.
Doses also come through federal programs for long-term care facilities, Native American tribes and retail pharmacies, which are not reflected in weekly state allocation numbers.
Where to get vaccinated
As of Monday, Feb. 22, most of these health care systems have an appointment-only process and those seeking appointments should do so online. Some 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.
▪ 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.
“Despite shipping delays, we are pleased to report that all scheduled appointments this week will proceed as planned,” Family Care Network posted on its website on Monday.
▪ 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.
For the second week in a row, PeaceHealth said that it doesn’t expect to receive first doses of COVID-19 vaccines from the state Department of Health.
“We do expect to receive a relatively small number of booster, or second doses, although a portion of the expected shipment may be disrupted due to the winter weather across much of the nation,” Bev Mayhew, spokesperson for PeaceHealth, told The Bellingham Herald in its weekly vaccine update.
“We will request more first and second dose supplies of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccine for the week of Feb. 28, and will know more by week’s end,” Mayhew said in the update, which covers the week of Feb. 21.
If PeaceHealth does get vaccines, the health care provider will continue to vaccinate those remaining in the 1a category — first responders, health care workers, long-term care residents and employees — and continue reaching out to patients 83 years and older who have established care with a PeaceHealth primary care doctor or specialist she said.
“Because of limited supply, the clinic at the Health Information Center (HEC) will only be open for limited hours this week to complete second dose vaccinations to community healthcare workers in the 1a category and to some of the early recipients of one dose in the 1b1 category,” Mayhew wrote.
▪ Sea Mar: Has a first-come, first-served walk-in system, but check availability online first. As of 4:45 p.m. Friday, Sea Mar said it had no doses of the vaccine at any of its clinics in the state, except for the Pfizer vaccine at its Everett 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 gets more 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, and it looks a bit more user-friendly as of Monday, Feb. 22.
Only providers that want to be on the map are listed, and those listed has changed since last week. Also new is information on whether the listed providers have vaccine appointments available.
The list for Whatcom County now includes Associates in Family Medicine on Ellis Street; 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 — a move that would 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 Thursday morning showed 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).
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 announced last week.
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.
It briefly opened for first-dose scheduling online on Monday, Feb. 22, but those slots filled.
More appointments may be added this week if doses become available, officials said, and people are being urged to check availability at noon on Saturday, Feb. 27 at https://www.skagitcounty.net/Departments/HealthDiseases/coronavirusvaccine.htm.
▪ 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 800-525-0127 or 888-856-5816.
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.
The CDC provides more information about the vaccines.
This story was originally published February 22, 2021 at 10:12 AM.
