No County Fairgrounds vaccine clinic this week No vaccine supply to Skagit Public Health

Skagit Public Health will not have a first dose vaccination clinic at the county fairgrounds this week, through Feb. 13, because no vaccine was supplied by the state, Laura Han, county spokesperson, said last Friday, telling the press the state did not provide an explanation, either.

“We did not get a first dose vaccine allocation from the State, so we can’t operate clinics,” Han posted Friday. “It is possible that other providers in the County have received doses, so check with your local pharmacy or primary care provider for more information.”

The county has not received first dose allocations this month for the fairgrounds clinic. The state’s first-dose allocation from the federal government was 107,125 doses, less than one-third of what providers asked for, the state Department of Health reported.

Limited supply nationally, not just in the state or county, is the biggest barrier to getting people vaccinated, said Han.

State DOH spokesperson Shelby Anderson echoed that, saying limited federal delivery of the vaccine is the biggest problem the state is facing, though issues with consistency are getting worked out.

Last week 430,275 doses of vaccine were requested by over 600 facilities statewide. The state was supplied with 165,850 a DOH news release stated. The federal government is now providing Washington a three-week projection of the number of doses it will get, and it is a marked increase over what was sent last week, Anderson said.

State data show Skagit County has received 12,075 doses, about 1% of the state’s distribution. Its residents are about 1.7% of the state’s population.

The dose total does not count those acquired from other counties or from health care providers outside the county or doses pharmacies received from the federal government.

People with second dose appointments will get their shots this week at the Fairgrounds, Han wrote, noting that the allocation systems are different.

As of Feb. 1, 1,741 Phase 1a and 1b, Tier 1-eligible individuals received a first dose at the Skagit County Fairgrounds Clinic. The clinic is by appointment only. Availability is based on vaccine supply.

Through Feb. 13, 605 vaccine doses have been given county-wide, Han reported.

The Whatcom County Health Department has not yet opened a vaccine clinic, the Bellingham Herald reported Feb. 2. The Herald reports that the department might “launch a mass COVID-19 vaccination effort in late February or early March, possibly sooner, provided there is adequate supply.”