Here’s who isn’t getting the COVID vaccine in Tri-Cities and WA state

Nearly a third of Benton County adults now are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, but Franklin County continues to lag with just over a quarter of its adults vaccinated.

Men are significantly less likely to be vaccinated than women, and Hispanics are less likely to be vaccinated than other races and ethnicities, according to data from the state of Washington.

In Benton County 22% of all people are vaccinated, compared to 16% of Franklin County, said Dr. Amy Person at the Benton Franklin Health District Board this week.

The Centers for Disease Control COVID vaccine data for adults only shows that 32% of Benton County adults are fully vaccinated and 26% of Franklin County adults.

Anyone age 16 or older now can receive the COVID vaccine in Washington state.

Seniors are most vulnerable to suffer severe cases of COVID-19 and death, and both counties are close to meeting the local health district’s initial goal of 70% vaccination of people 65 and older.

In Benton County, 69% of that age group and in Franklin County 65% of that age group have received the vaccine against the coronavirus.

Washington state data shows that 57% of those fully vaccinated are women, creating a significant gender gap, said Michele Roberts, acting assistant secretary for the Washington state Department of Health, at a Wednesday news media briefing.

“There’s probably a lot of factors that play into that, but one of the biggest is that women are traditionally the health care decision makers in families and more likely to seek out health care on a routine basis,” she said.

And Dr. Umair Shah, state secretary of health, said so far Hispanics also have been less likely to get vaccinated.

They make up 13% of the state’s total population but only 8% of those vaccinated, he said.

In the Tri-Cities area, clinics that serve Hispanic populations are seeing strong interest for the vaccine, according to public health officials.

But lack of transportation, long work hours during the growing season and not speaking English can make accessing the vaccine more difficult.

Public health officials and vaccine providers have been working with agriculture and food processing employers to organize vaccine clinics at work places and to arrange worker transportation in vans to drive-thru mass vaccination clinics.

Overcoming vaccine hesitancy

The supply of the vaccine continues to fall short of demand in parts of Western Washington, but that’s not the case in the Tri-Cities area.

Dr. Person said addressing vaccine hesitancy will be important as the rates of new COVID cases are increasing ahead of the state’s May 3 review.

The health district’s goal is to provide information and dispel myths as people make decisions on whether to be vaccinated.

The Benton Franklin Health District is currently targeting Spanish language speakers with radio advertisements and interviews with trusted community leaders, including church leaders, Pasco Mayor Saul Martinez, the head of the Tri-Cities Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and workers, sharing vaccine information.

In addition, Visit Tri-Cities has received funding from cities for a 12-week local television ad campaign.

The Washington state Department of Health will assess May 3 whether Benton and Franklin counties are keeping the disease in check adequately to remain in Phase 3 of reopening.

Both counties have had days recently in which preliminary data showed that neither is meeting either of the metrics the state will consider — new COVID hospital admissions and number of new cases per population.

Counties that fail both checks will drop back to a more restrictive phase of reopening.

That the two counties were able to advance to Phase 3 of reopening last month was largely due to vaccinations, after struggling to advance previously, Dr. Person said.

“We know this community has struggled either with people who cannot or will not follow through with all of the appropriate infection control measures,” she said.

To schedule a COVID vaccine appointment in the Tri-Cities area, go to vaccinelocator.doh.wa.gov.

This story was originally published April 22, 2021 at 12:46 PM.