Demand overwhelming Tri-Cities COVID vaccine supply. Here’s the outlook for next week

Public health officials are hopeful that the Tri-Cities area could receive an increase in COVID-19 vaccine allocation in the coming week.

But many people likely will continue to be frustrated by the inability to be vaccinated.

“We are at the phase where we have more people who want vaccine than vaccine is available,” said Dr. Amy Person, health officer for Benton and Franklin counties.

Just in Benton and Franklin counties there are 40,700 people 65 and older who are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine as of Jan. 18.

“Our vaccine allocations each week are not close to that amount so it will take time to get those most vulnerable vaccinated,” said Dr. Person.

In addition, some people 50 and older in multigenerational households also are newly eligible. And some of those previously eligible — health care workers and the residents and employees of long-term care centers — still may be needing their first or second dose of the vaccine.

The mass, drive-thru clinic at the Benton County Fairgrounds in its first week of operation had given 3,817 shots by Friday.

Next week the Southeast Washington Incident Management Team, which is operating the site, believes it might get 4,000 doses, with some vials containing extra vaccine to provide additional shots.

Confirmation of the number of doses that could be sent to the Kennewick fairgrounds is expected over the weekend.

Preregistration for appointments for the week went live on the Washington state Department of Health website at prepmod.doh.wa.gov about 3:30 p.m. Friday, despite the uncertainty of doses available.

About 1,250 appointments were offered for at least each of Tuesday through Friday, plus Saturday appointments.

That’s more appointments than local officials at the site expected to have vaccine for, said Ben Shearer of the Southeast Washington Incident Management Team.

There was no word before the close of business on how the state would resolve the possible issue — whether by sending more doses than expected, removing some unclaimed appointment times or notifying some people their appointments were being rescheduled.

Vaccine clinics shorted

The Benton County Fairgrounds had enough vaccine to give more than 3,800 shots in its first week after the state diverted some vaccine doses from other providers to boost the allotment for the four mass vaccination clinics set up in the last week across the state.

Kadlec Regional Medical Center held a vaccine clinic for 200, with registration spots filling in 15 minutes, and Prosser Memorial Health canceled two clinics that already had all appointments taken when it received just 100 doses. That’s down from the 1,600 doses it received the week before.

The Tri-Cities Community Health Center at 515 W. Court St. in Pasco was giving 350 doses of vaccine on some days on a walk-in basis but ended the week Friday by giving about 100 doses. People line up outside the clinic before its opening at 7:30 a.m. to be given a number for one of the spots later in the day.

In the coming week, clinics shorted over the past week could receive more vaccine, Dr. Person said.

“We are certainly encouraged by the news from President Biden that the vaccine allocation will be increased by 16% each week for the next three weeks,” she said.

The federal government distributes COVID vaccine to the state, which then distributes them to providers and clinics throughout the state.

Those looking for vaccines can check the Benton Franklin Health District list of places, including pharmacies and hospitals, where vaccine may be available. Go to bit.ly/BFHDvaccinesites.

An alternative is to call 211, a general helpline, said the state Department of Health. You can also text “vaccine” to 211–211.

Fairgrounds vaccine clinic

All appointments for the coming week at the Tri-Cities fairgrounds drive-thru were claimed by Friday evening.

The clinic will operate Tuesday through Saturday, with vaccine doses expected to arrive Monday and time needed to prepare them for use.

The fairgrounds site has been able to stretch its supply of Pfizer vaccine to inoculate more people than originally planned, since Pfizer vaccine vials often are filled with enough vaccine for additional doses.

When it becomes clear that there will be extra doses at the fairgrounds vaccination clinic on a particular day, preregistration for appointments may be reopened online with no notice.

And if there are any additional extra doses after that, a stand-by line is formed at the fairgrounds for people who do not have appointments. Organizers of the fairground event are unable to give a time for when a standby line may form.

About 100 vaccines were held back late in the first week of operations, said Pasco Fire Chief Bob Gear, the incident commander for the Southeast Washington Incident Management Team at the fairgrounds.

They were being used for people who obviously are old enough to qualify to be vaccinated but do not have the skills or means to preregister online.

However, most people who show up at the fairgrounds without preregistering for an appointment can expect to be turned away.

Preregistration

People are encouraged to check the preregistration site, prepmod.doh.wa.gov, often, both for appointments available due to extra doses and for appointments that open because of cancellations.

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. The number of open appointments, if any, is given for each clinic.

People without computer access may call the Washington state Department of Health at 800-525-0127 and press # to schedule a vaccination at the fairgrounds. However, people who tried to call were reporting having trouble getting through and some were not getting return calls when they left their number.

Fairgrounds staffing challenge

The Washington state Department of Health wants to keep the Tri-Cities fairgrounds clinic operating until at least April 3, Gear said.

That will be a staffing challenge, he said.

As state Department of Health and some Benton Franklin Health District employees working the site now, along with local fire departments and the Washington National Guard, return to their regular jobs, replacements will be needed.

Organizers are expecting to get volunteers from Team Rubicon, a volunteer organization of mostly military veterans. In addition, emergency medical technicians and paramedics from area firefighting agencies are being trained to give vaccinations, Gear said.

Vaccine providers increasing

Some people were having trouble getting on the state’s Phase Finder at FindYourPhaseWA.org to determine their eligibility for a COVID vaccine and to print off or take a screen shot of their proof of eligibility, which is required at most places giving the COVID vaccine.

If Phase Finder does not work, it likely is because many people are trying to use it at the same time, said the state Department of Health.

The state said limited vaccine supplies, high demand and a new scheduling system with an unprecedented amount of web traffic was presenting challenges.

That’s been compounded by a public health system that is chronically underfunded, Dr. Person said.

The expansion of vaccine eligibility to people older than 65 happened just two weeks ago and, as Dr. Person pointed out, the fairgrounds clinic has only been operating for a week.

Public health officials are working to improve all aspects of the COVID vaccination system, including registration, scheduling, giving the shots, tracking vaccines given and follow up for the second doses required, Dr. Person said.

The state continues to approve more providers each week who can give the vaccine as it becomes more available and more people become eligible for the vaccine.

That includes individual doctors and medical clinics, pharmacies and possibly dentists, Dr. Person said.

“We do know we will be able to vaccinate everyone who wants to be vaccinated over time,” she said.

Public health officials are encouraged that so many people want the COVID vaccine, she said.

This story was originally published January 29, 2021 at 12:06 PM.