Thousands of COVID vaccine appointments open up at Tri-Cities fairgrounds

Preregistration opened Friday afternoon for COVID vaccinations at the Benton County Fairgrounds in Kennewick for Tuesday through Saturday.

By evening all appointments were claimed.

However, organizers of the fairgrounds drive-thru clinic say people should keep checking back in case there are cancellations and because some days extra doses are available.

To make an appointment go to prepmod.doh.wa.gov/clinic/search and scroll down the page to find appointment dates for the Tri-Cities fairground and how many remaining appointments may be available on each date.

About 1,250 appointments were posted per day for the coming week, although that may have been reduced before all slots were claimed as not enough vaccine is expected for the drive-thru clinic for that many appointments.

The organizers of the fairground clinic are expecting about 800 doses a day, but were still waiting at the close of business Friday to hear the final amount to be shipped.

If vaccine is not available for anyone who makes an appointment, some may be sent an email with a change of date or time.

Those who get one of the appointments will need to bring a copy or screenshot on their phone of their appointment confirmation and proof of eligibility, which can be obtained at FindYourPhaseWA.org.

To be eligible you must be age 65 or older; be 50 or older and live in a multigenerational household; be a health care worker; or live or work at a long term care facility.

Only people who work or live in Washington state may get the vaccine at the Tri-Cities fairground clinic.

This story was originally published January 29, 2021 at 3:56 PM.