1,400 vaccinated so far at Tri-Cities fairgrounds. Tips on getting a shot

The Benton County Fairgrounds drive-thru COVID-90 vaccination site delivered shots in the arms of 900 people on its second day of operation.

That’s up from 500 on opening day Monday — just a week after the state of Washington expanded eligibility for the vaccine to people 65 and older — for a total of 1,400 in two days.

But as the Tri-Cities site is ramping up, Prosser Memorial Health was forced to cancel two vaccine clinics already filled with appointments.

“Vaccine that has been directed to hospitals is being redirected to support state-run mass vaccination sites,” Prosser hospital officials said in a Monday afternoon announcement.

The state Department of Health opened four mass vaccination sites across the state this week, including the one at the fairgrounds in Kennewick.

The Southeast Washington Incident Management Team, which is operating the drive-thru site for the state with the Washington National Guard and other partners, was pleased with the site’s performance on its second day.

“Compared to the first day of operations, patient throughput more than doubled and wait times were greatly reduced,” the agency said in a news release at the end of the day Tuesday.

Maj. Gen. Bret D. Daugherty — The Adjutant General for all Washington Army and Air National Guard forces and director of the state’s Emergency Management program — visited the fairgrounds Wednesday to lend support to Tri-Cities workers and check out the operation.

Workers at the fairgrounds did have to turn away angry people after the state and local operators issued conflicting information Monday.

In the end the state prevailed, requiring all participants to have a reservation to receive a vaccination starting Tuesday. On Monday the site was first come, first serve.

The reader board sign at the entrance to the fairgrounds announced the new requirement that preregistration for appointments was required. Some people still waited in a snaking car line for as long as an hour before learning they would not receive a vaccine because of the new preregistration requirement.

Participants who were preregistered reported wait times in the car line for as long as two hours before receiving the vaccination.

But the Pasco Police Department posted on social media late Wednesday morning that people with vaccination appointments were getting their shots and leaving the site about an hour after they arrived.

It said those with afternoon appointments Wednesday should feel free to stop by before their appointment times.

Pasco police said the site is expected to be open by appointment Tuesday through Saturday next week, if vaccine is available.

Organizers previously had said they planned to have the site open Mondays through Fridays.

Drive-thru clinic how-to

• To preregister, go to prepmod.doh.wa.gov and click on the blue button that says “Find a Vaccination Clinic.” On the next page scroll down and pick another blue button to sign up for the location and day of the drive-thru clinic you want, rather than doing a search for a location at the top of the page.
• Those without internet access may call 800-525-0127 to schedule a vaccination.
• Currently, preregistration online is limited to just two or three of the coming days, but that could be expanded soon. Because of the changing availability of the COVID vaccine, additional times may be added each day. “It is highly recommended that those seeking a vaccine frequently check for registration availability,” said the Southeast Washington Incident Management Team.
• People who successfully preregister for an appointment should arrive two hours before their registration time and be prepared for a possible wait with blankets, food, bottled water, books and any medications. Portable bathrooms are available.
• Anyone who has had any type of vaccine in the past two weeks will not be given a COVID-19 vaccine.
• Participants will need to show a copy of the confirmation they receive after preregistering and also proof of eligibility. Proof of eligibility can be found on FindYourPhaseWA.org.
• Currently, vaccines are only being given to people 65 or older and people 50 and older living in multigenerational households. Health care employees and staff and residents of long-term care facilities for the elderly also are eligible.
• Participants can either print the required documents or take screen shots and have them available to display at the drive-thru clinic on their mobile phone or electronic tablet.
• They will also need to fill out a short registration form. Forms will be provided at the fairgrounds, but participants may save time by printing a form off at bit.ly/BCFGPreregistrationForm, filling it out and bringing it with them.
• People with appointments must arrive in vehicles. The site is not set up for people on foot.

Prosser hospital clinics

Some people in the Tri-Cities had been making the 30 to 35 mile drive to Prosser and joining locals there for the vaccine clinics run by Prosser Memorial Health.

Last week it received 1,600 vaccines, and it has the capacity to administer 2,000 vaccines each week.

But this week it is only receiving 100 vaccine doses, forcing it to cancel two vaccine clinics with appointments already given out.

Its clinics were getting favorable comments on the Flatten the Curve — Tri-Cities Facebook page.

One person posted “the process was friendly, well organized, exceptionally easy and timely.”

Another posted, “The clinic was very fast and efficient. A great alternative to a drive through mass clinic like the one at the BF county fairgrounds.”

It has distributed 3,040 of the 3,400 doses it had received as of Monday.

Three weeks ago the state had asked Prosser Memorial Health to ramp up its vaccination capacity, which it did, with drive-through clinics, mobile vaccine sites and scheduled appointments designed to be safe for the elderly and the medically fragile, it said.

But then it learned that most of the vaccine doses it expected to receive this week were being reallocated to the state’s drive-thru clinics, it said.

“We believe the reallocation of vaccines away from hospitals and clinics with thousands of appointments already scheduled is short-sighted and harmful to the public’s trust in Washington state’s vaccine distribution system,” it posted on its web site.

The reallocation raises questions about equity, it said.

“We are hearing from our most vulnerable community members they may not be able to travel to a mass vaccination clinic or may not trust a clinic run or staffed by government or military officials,” it said.

It urged people who share its concerns to contact the office of Gov. Jay Inslee, who announced the new drive-thru clinics for mass vaccinations last week.

This story was originally published January 27, 2021 at 5:00 AM.