Coordinators at the county’s mass vaccination site at the Port of Grays Harbor are confident they can easily provide COVID-19 vaccines for 1,000 people a day.

It all hinges on getting the vaccines.

The site opened Wednesday, when 203 first doses of the Pfizer vaccine were administered. Thursday, the number almost doubled to 405. Friday, when the media was given a tour of the site, 317 were scheduled. And there are vaccines to deliver 975 this coming Thursday; those appointments were being scheduled Friday.

Friday afternoon, the final group of 77 was waiting at the guard shack at the Pasha Automotive facility on East Terminal Way in Aberdeen. There, they showed identification to match them up with the reservation list. They were then directed to another checkpoint, where they were asked medical questions, including whether or not they had pre-existing medical conditions or had experienced reactions to vaccinations in the past. This is done to determine the amount of post observation time needed. Those without complicating factors were marked with a blue ribbon for a 15-minute observation period. Others were marked with a yellow ribbon for a half-hour observation period.

Port of Grays Harbor Commission President Stan Pinnick said the fencing and security at the site were provided by Homeland Security. Employees of Pasha, experienced in directing cars off ships, guided those to be vaccinated through the site.

The cars moved into a covered warehouse with large bay doors and were lined up in four rows. Mostly volunteers — 18 are on the site per day. Medical Reserve Corps volunteers from public health and other community members quickly administered the doses, working through the rows of vehicles, quickly dispensing the vaccines.

The cars were then directed to an observation area just outside the warehouse. There are paramedics on scene and others to check for adverse reactions to the vaccine. The vaccinated are instructed to honk their horns if they are having trouble. Different emergency services are at the site each day: Friday it was Fire District 2, the previous day it was Hoquiam. County Incident Management Team spokesman Nick Falley said Friday there was only a minor incident during the first week that didn’t require additional medical attention.

About a half hour after the cars entered the facility, the last left.

Daniel Hannawalt-Morales, Grays Harbor Public Health vaccine coordinator, was observing at the scene. He said the vaccine is stored at Grays Harbor Community Hospital, and is prepared and delivered to the site hourly. If there is any vaccine left at the end of the day, it is administered to the volunteers and staff who man the site.

Falley encouraged anyone who wants to get vaccinated to go to the county’s intake form, accessible from Grays Harbor Public Health’s Facebook page, facebook.com/healthyghc, and website, healthygh.org.

When you fill out that list, at the end, you will see a message that will give you which vaccination tier and phase you are in, and a general idea of when you can expect to get a call for your appointment.

Falley said anyone who has filled out the form should wait for the call from the vaccination team. The phone banks have been slammed, so if you are concerned you may not have filled out the form correctly, Falley recommends emailing your questions to the call center, covid19@co.grays-harbor.wa.us.

Friday, Falley said about 11,000 had signed up for vaccinations. He reminded everyone this is an appointment-only site; if you show up without an appointment you will be turned away. The site is for Grays Harbor County residents only.

Latest COVID numbers

Grays Harbor County broke the 3,000-case mark with 88 new cases reported between Thursday and Friday, bringing the total to 3,012. There was one additional death reported, bringing the county total for the pandemic to 33. Three new hospitalizations were reported, making 142 for the pandemic.

DAN HAMMOCK | THE DAILY WORLD After receiving a vaccination, vehicles were directed to a holding area, where people were observed for 15-30 minutes for any adverse reactions to the vaccine.

DAN HAMMOCK | THE DAILY WORLD Carts were wheeled between the rows of vehicles at the covered mass vaccination site and doses were quickly administered in the last group Friday, when 317 people were scheduled to be vaccinated.

DAN HAMMOCK | THE DAILY WORLD After checking in at the guard shack outside the county’s mass vaccination site, vehicles are directed to a second checkpoint, where people are asked if they have pre-existing conditions that would require a longer hold time after the vaccination is delivered.

DAN HAMMOCK | THE DAILY WORLD A passenger in the vehicle to the right gets her COVID-19 vaccination at the county’s mass vaccination site Friday.

DAN HAMMOCK | THE DAILY WORLD After receiving a vaccination, vehicles were directed to a holding area, where people were observed for 15-30 minutes for any adverse reactions to the vaccine.

DAN HAMMOCK | THE DAILY WORLD Carts were wheeled between the rows of vehicles at the covered mass vaccination site and doses were quickly administered in the last group Friday, when 317 people were scheduled to be vaccinated.

DAN HAMMOCK | THE DAILY WORLD A passenger in the vehicle to the right gets her COVID-19 vaccination at the county’s mass vaccination site Friday.