Kadlec gets nearly 2,000 COVID vaccines this week. None for Trios, Lourdes workers yet

Kadlec Regional Medical Center could start vaccinating some of its workers at highest risk of being exposed to COVID-19 by the end of this week, an official there said.

Of the 62,400 vaccine doses the Washington state Department of Health is expecting to receive this week, 1,950 doses are being sent to one or more Benton County health care providers.

Kadlec, the largest of the Tri-Cities hospitals, employs about 3,700 people in its Richland-based health care system.

The state is not releasing which agency or agencies in Benton County will receive the 1,950 initial doses and has advised hospitals to limit the information they release in the interest of safety and security, according to Kadlec.

No shipments were scheduled this week to Trios Health in Kennewick or Lourdes Health in Pasco.

“Lourdes Health and Trios Health, along with thousands of hospitals across the United States are eager to receive initial dosages of the vaccine, which are very limited,” the two hospitals said in a joint statement.

“While we are disappointed to not be included in this initial shipment, we are expecting vaccines to be distributed on a weekly basis going forward,” it said.

Just 13 counties are receiving part of the first state shipment this week. The second vaccine shipment this week will expand distribution to 29 of the state’s 39 counties, plus tribal programs and one unnamed nursing home.

However, Franklin County is one of the 10 in the state that will not be receiving any shipments this week, either in the initial distribution of 31,200 doses of the vaccine or the second shipment of 29,250 doses expected by the state.

Fewer doses next week

Next week’s shipment of vaccine doses to Washington state will be cut by 40%, according to a Thursday morning tweet from Gov. Jay Inslee.

He said the state was informed of the cut by the Centers for Disease Control, but no explanation was given.

“This is disruptive and frustrating,” the governor tweeted. “We need accurate, predictable numbers to plan and ensure on the ground success.”

Updates on how many vaccines may be shipped were already unpredictable, as coronavirus vaccines are still being approved, state Health Secretary John Wiesman said on Wednesday. News about the manufacturing and distribution of the vaccines changes daily.

“The best thing we’re going to be able to do, I think for some time, is really kind of look a few weeks ahead and see what things look like, certainly in the beginning,” he said.

The state’s first priority, following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control, is to vaccinate health care workers at the highest risk of being exposed to the coronavirus on the job, including many hospital workers, emergency medical technicians and long-term care workers, and also long-term care residents.

The Washington state Department of Health expects those groups will not be vaccinated until mid to late January. Then the vaccine could be offered to the next eligible group of people, with the state not yet determining who they will be.

Vaccines are not expected to be available to everyone who wants them until late spring or early summer.

The state is working on systems that would allow the public to assess their status in line and get notified when they are able to receive the vaccination.

Health care providers would also be able to notify their patients, said Assistant Health Secretary Michele Roberts during a state media briefing on the pandemic Wednesday.

“Everybody is going to have more than one way to find out and search where there are in line and where they go to get the vaccine,” she said.

As of Wednesday night, the state Department of Health said at least 410 vaccines had been administered.

‘Momentous week’

“This has indeed been a momentous week with the availability now of COVID-19 vaccine,” said Dr. Amy Person, the Benton Franklin health officer, at a Thursday media briefing on COVID. “We do see a light at the end of what has been a very long journey.”

While the Benton Franklin Health District has traditionally received vaccines and then distributed them in the two counties, the state Department of Health is in charge of distribution of COVID vaccines statewide during the pandemic.

The local health district is working with fire districts to make sure they have a provider lined up to vaccine their emergency medical technicians. It also is making sure nursing homes and other long-term care centers are working with CVS or Walgreens pharmacies, which will receive doses for residents and workers at long-term care centers.

The local health district also has applied to the state to receive doses of the vaccine, but is not expecting to receive any of the Pfizer vaccine, which is the one being distributed in Washington state this week.

The Pfizer vaccine must be kept at ultracold temperatures — temperatures colder than Antarctica — and the health district does not have the capability to store it.

However, the federal government is moving quickly on approval of the Moderna vaccine, which requires refrigeration but not ultracold storage, and the health district is prepared to store and handle it.

Like the Pfizer vaccine, it will require a second dose a few weeks after the first to provide the best protection against the virus.

Both Kadlec in Richland and Trios Health in Kennewick are among the sites in the Tri-Cities area that have ultracold freezers suitable for the Pfizer vaccine.

Craig Sailor of The (Tacoma) News Tribune contributed to this report.

This story was originally published December 17, 2020 at 2:06 PM.