1,000s more Tri-Citians become eligible for COVID vaccine Wednesday. Proof of eligibility eases
Thousands more Tri-Cities area residents become eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday and plenty of doses are available locally.
In a change announced this week, proof of eligibility from the Washington state Phase Finder is no longer required. The online tool is being phased out.
“As we have opened it up to more categories it has become confusing for people to know if they are eligible or not, so we are really trying to remove those barriers,” said Dr. Amy Person, health officer for Benton and Franklin counties, during an AARP telephone town hall Tuesday.
People will be on the honor system to say whether they are eligible or not for the vaccine.
Nearly 2 million more people in the state will qualify for the vaccine starting March 31 in addition to about 3 million people already eligible.
Those newly eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine will include anyone 60 or older living or working in the state. The age limit is being lowered from 65 or older.
In addition, anyone with at least two underlying health conditions that might put them at risk of a severe case of COVID may receive the vaccine.
Health conditions include heart, kidney or liver disease; high blood pressure; being overweight; diabetes; smoking; cancer; moderate to severe asthma; or damaged or scarred lungs.
The Centers For Disease Control has the full list of underlying health conditions posted at bit.ly/3vZR8P5.
“We know that about three-fourths of adults in the U.S. — and it is similar in Benton and Franklin counties — do have chronic disease that puts them at risk of COVID-19,” Dr. Person said.
People with jobs that cause them to work closely together or with customers become eligible Wednesday. They include workers in restaurants, construction and manufacturing.
Those newly eligible also include people living in group settings such as prisons or other correctional facilities; group homes for people with disabilities; and homeless shelters.
On May 1 all people ages 16 or older will be eligible for the vaccine under an order from President Joe Biden. But it is not clear if enough vaccine will be available then for everyone who wants it in Washington state.
But this week people who are eligible should have little trouble getting the vaccine.
Find a vaccine appointment
As of noon Tuesday the Benton County Fairgrounds drive-thru vaccine clinic in Kennewick had about 750 open appointments for the Pfizer COVID vaccine Wednesday through Saturday.
Unlike the early days of the drive-thru clinic, any wait times for those with appointments are usually short. Many people spend spend an hour in their car on site, including a wait time post-injection to make sure they do not have a rare serious reaction to the vaccine.
Schedule an appointment by going to prepmod.doh.wa.gov and click on “Find a Clinic.” On the next page scroll down and check all pages for open appointments at the Benton County Fairgrounds listed separately for each day.
An appointment also may be made by calling the Washington state COVID-19 Assistance Hotline at 800-525-0127.
Washington state also maintains a listing of places with open appointments at vaccinelocator.doh.wa.gov.
Places with vaccine appointments available within 50 miles will be shown when you enter your zip code.
As of Tuesday, it listed open appointments not only at the Tri-Cities fairgrounds, but also at Tri-Cities Community Health clinics in Kennewick and Pasco, the Richland Fred Meyer, the Pasco Yokes, the Kennewick Walmart and the Rite Aid on Ely Street in Kennewick.
Sites in Prosser, Connell, Grandview, Othello and Walla Walla also were listed as having COVID vaccine appointments open.
Veterans of any age enrolled in area Veterans Administration clinics may get a vaccine Saturday, April 3, in the Richland Federal Building parking lot, 825 Jadwin Ave. Appointments are required by calling 509-525-5200 and selecting 2 and then 2 again.
38,500 vaccinated locally
The Washington state Department of Health says that 38,501 of the approximately 300,000 people in Benton and Franklin counties are now fully vaccinated.
Additional people have received their first dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, with a total of 107,565 doses of vaccine administered in the two counties.
The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require a second “booster” dose to be fully effective, but the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, which is in shorter supply locally, requires a single shot.
Among agencies that have had some of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at times are Prosser Memorial Health and Tri-Cities Community Health.
According to the CDC, 3.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Washington, although the state lists just 3.2 million doses administered.
On the national level, 180 million doses have been distributed and 145 million shots of the approved vaccines have been given, according to CDC statistics.
Tri-Cities COVID cases
The Tri-Cities area has 39 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, the Benton Franklin Health District said on Tuesday.
It brings the average number of cases for the week so far, starting with the weekend, to 28 per day.
That is down from the average of 32 new cases per day reported last week.
The new cases include 19 in Benton County and 20 in Franklin County, where new cases have been slower to decline. Franklin County has about half as many people as Benton County.
However, Franklin County is maintaining a two-week new case rate of below 200, which will be required to remain in Phase 3 of reopening when the Washington state Department of Health next checks new case rates on April 12.
Franklin County’s latest case rate calculated by public health officials is 179 new cases per 100,000 people over two weeks.
Benton County’s most recent case rate is 120 cases per 100,000 people over two weeks.
The Benton Franklin Health District reported 17 people hospitalized locally for COVID-19 on Tuesday.
That’s up from a low of 12 March 19, but down from the 22 cases reported at the start of the month.
The 17 patients on Tuesday accounted for just over 4% of the 414 patients at the Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser hospitals.
The Tri-Cities area has had 26,511 COVID-19 cases confirmed with positive test results since the start of the pandemic. They include 15,183 cases in Benton County and 11,328 cases in Franklin County.
The Tri-Cities area has had 306 residents die of complications of COVID-19, including 207 in Benton County and 99 in Franklin County.
Washington state
The Washington state Department of Health reported 640 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday and eight deaths since Friday.
Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are 362,385 cases and 5,226 deaths.
Those numbers are up from 361,745 cases on Sunday and 5,218 deaths Friday. The case total includes 22,624 cases listed as probable. DOH revises previous case and death counts most days.
Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019.
As of March 10, the date with the most recent complete data, 37 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 were admitted to Washington state hospitals.
Preliminary reports indicate average daily hospital admissions were slightly moving up at 38 in mid-March.
Out of the state’s total staffed intensive care unit beds (1,234) approximately 76.3% (984) were occupied by patients Thursday. Of those staffed ICU beds, 7.4% (91) held suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients
Cases by county
According to DOH data, King County continues to have the highest numbers in Washington, with 90,125 cases and 1,461 deaths. Pierce County is second in cases, with 42,192. Pierce County has the second-highest number of deaths, at 605, according to DOH, which counts deaths differently than the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
All counties in Washington have at least 100 cases. Only 11 of the state’s 39 counties have case counts of fewer than 1,000.
There have been more than 30.3 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 549,892 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Monday, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has the highest number of reported cases and deaths of any nation.
More than 2.79 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 127 million.
Craig Sailor with The (Tacoma) News Tribune contributed to this report.
This story was originally published March 30, 2021 at 2:01 PM.