There will be two clinics at the county’s mass vaccination site at the Port of Grays Harbor next week — second doses Friday and first doses Saturday.
The link for the Saturday first-dose clinic went online Friday. As for the second-dose clinic, the county incident management team was waiting until they had the vaccines in hand before posting it online, said county COVID response public information officer Maranatha Hay. Clinics and links to schedule appointments can be found at healthygh.org/covid19-vaccine-appointment.
About a quarter of Grays Harbor County residents have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and more than 13% have been fully vaccinated, according to state Department of Health data.
Numbers released Wednesday show that just shy of 27,800 vaccine doses have been administered in the county. That does not include the mass vaccination clinics held at the Port of Grays Harbor Thursday and Friday, when more than 1,000 appointments were made.
Hay said the initial vaccination intake form, which had more than 26,000 people sign up to get on the appointment list, is still being used to inform those who signed up about upcoming clinics.
“People who signed up on the intake form are given priority by providing the link to schedule an appointment a few days prior to it being posted on our website,” said Hay. “We depleted those in (vaccination phases and tiers) 1A, 1B1 and 1B2 from our list already, so until we reach a new phase, the best course of action is to register for an appointment on our website when you are eligible, especially if you did not sign up through the intake form.”
So whether you signed up on the original intake form or not, it’s best to register online when individual clinics are announced.
Those who are in Phase 1B, Tier2 are now eligible: High-risk critical workers are eligible if they work in certain congregate settings, including agriculture; fishing vessel crews; food processing; grocery stores and large food banks; corrections; prisons, jails or detention centers; public transit; and remaining first responders. Not eligible in this current phase are workers in coffee shops, small convenience stores, wineries, and other low density, low volume, open settings.
If you think you’re included as a high-risk critical worker, but are not sure, answer the following four questions; if you can answer yes to all you are eligible: Do you work in an enclosed setting? Do you interact with a high volume of people? Do you work more than three hours in a 24-hour time period? Are you NOT able to consistently social distance (i.e., be more than six feet apart)?
“We strongly encourage all those who are eligible for Phase 1B, Tier2 to schedule their vaccine appointments as soon as possible, as Washington state will be opening two new tiers, Tier 3 and Tier 4, March 31,” said Hay.
Gov. Jay Inslee announced the expansion of vaccine eligibility Thursday. Starting March 31, anyone with two or more comorbidities, anyone between the ages of 60 and 64, anyone living in congregate settings (correctional facilities, group homes for those with disabilities, those experiencing homelessness, etc.), and additional workers in congregate settings (restaurants, manufacturing, construction) will be eligible for the vaccine.
As of Wednesday in Pacific County, public health reported that 11,509 total doses of vaccine have been given in the county. More than a quarter of the county’s population has had a first dose, and more than 17% have had both. Pacific County residents can get on the county’s vaccine wait list at tinyurl.com/paccovaccine.
Case counts
Between Thursday March 11 and Wednesday March 17, five COVID-related deaths were reported in Grays Harbor County. That initially brought the total deaths for the county to 57; however, the state Department of Health adjusted its count this week, and total deaths in the county as of Wednesday stood at 54.
During that week, 44 new cases were reported, with single digits reported the last several days: 19 March 12, 13 March 14, five March 15, three March 16, and four March 17.
In Pacific County, as of Wednesday, the total case count was 819, up 19 from the previous week. There were 25 active cases as of that day, down from 30 March 10 and 41 March 3. The death total stood at 10, unchanged from two weeks prior. The cases per 100,000 population over the previous two weeks, which had ballooned to nearly 250 March 10, had dropped Wednesday to 175.6.
