Many COVID vaccine appointments still open in Tri-Cities this week — if you’re eligible

More than 2,000 appointments were open as of Monday afternoon for first and second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine at the Tri-Cities fairgrounds for this week.

Appointments for Tuesday, March 9, the first day the drive-thru clinic will be open this week, have been claimed, and appointments from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, March 13, were going fast.

But as of early Monday afternoon, more than 600 appointments a day remained open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at the Benton County Fairgrounds. The open appointments were posted online Saturday morning.

Those currently eligible in Washington state include educators and childcare workers; people 65 and older; some people 50 and older living in multigenerational households; health care workers; and residents and employees of long-term care facilities for the elderly.

Having open appointments by the start of the week is a change from a month ago, when open appointments were snapped up at the fairgrounds within hours of when they were posted.

Most people who have an appointment spend an hour or less at the fairgrounds, including the 15 to 30 minutes they must wait in their cars after their shot to make sure they don’t have a rare reaction.

Any leftover vaccine at the fairgrounds each day, either because of extra vaccine or people who miss their appointments, will be given to those in a car holding line who are eligible for the vaccine. No specific time is given for when it opens, but on some weekdays cars are allowed into the holding line about noon.

On some days, updates on the holding line are posted on the Facebook page of the Southeast Washington Interagency Management Team.

The Kennewick fairgrounds drive-thru clinic has given 27,252 doses of the vaccine, more than any of the other Washington state Department of Health mass vaccination clinics, the state said on Sunday.

The Ridgefield site, near Vancouver, has given 25,174 doses the Wenatchee site has give 22,593 doses and the Spokane site has give 19,922 doses.

A total of 23,568 people have been fully vaccinated in Benton and Franklin counties, home to about 300,000 people, the state reported Friday. Two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are needed for full protection from the virus.

More than 67,700 COVID-19 shots have been given in the Tri-Cities area.

The Benton County Fairgrounds clinic open appointments this week are for the Pfizer vaccine.

Getting vaccine appointments

To get an appointment at the Benton County Fairgrounds, go to prepmod.doh.wa.gov/clinic/search. Scroll down to find openings by location and date, and be sure to check all pages.

Registration for open appointments also may be made by calling the Washington state COVID-19 Assistance Hotline at 800-525-0127 and pressing #.

The Richland Senior Association also has a toll-free help line for people without internet access or without the computer skills to navigate online sign-up sites. Call 800-595-4070 and leave a voicemail message.

If this is your first COVID vaccine dose you will need to provide proof of eligibility, which is available at FindYourPhaseWA.org, at the Tri-Cities fairgrounds, whether you have an appointment or are in the holding line.

If it is your second dose, you will need to bring the COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card you were given when you received your first dose. If you have misplaced it, you may be able to access your vaccination record at the state Department of Health site wa.myir.net.

For more places that may have vaccine available, check the Benton Franklin Health District’s list at bit.ly/BFHDvaccinesites. The list includes primarily pharmacies, hospitals and medical clinics.

The Washington state Department of Health also maintains a list by county at www.covidvaccinewa.org.