SEATTLE — Washington state is making progress in getting doses of the vaccine out to eligible people. But now, health officials are shifting focus on where the state's vaccine supply is headed.
Previously, 70% of all the state’s doses went to hospitals. That is set to change so that the general public can have increased access to the vaccine.
“It’s important that pharmacies, community health centers, local public health, and mass vaccination sites also receive weekly allocations,” said Michele Roberts, Assistant Secretary of Health.
The change is apparent in the Department of Health’s newest vaccine plan.
The state now will distribute COVID-19 vaccine doses as follows:
- 35% are going to mass vaccination sites
- 23% are going to hospitals
- 19% are going to community health centers
- 19% are going to pharmacies
- 3% are going to tribes and Urban Indian Programs
The changes come as more people in the community need access to vaccines, compared to the number of healthcare workers who still need to get a shot.
“Early on it made sense to send most of the vaccine to hospitals. That’s how we reached the most at-risk workers in healthcare settings and how we also maintained the capacity in our healthcare system," Roberts said. "Now, we need to spread our limited vaccine supply to more sites across the state to help people have easier access to vaccine.”
Right now the vaccine is available to healthcare frontline workers, people who are 65 and older, or those who are 50 and older who also live in a multigenerational household.
As of this week, 770,000 doses of the vaccine have been given in Washington, while there are 300,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in our state. More than twice as many people are vaccinated against the virus, than have had it.
Dr. Umair Shah, state secretary of health, said the state is making progress.
“We’ve given over 66% of the vaccine doses delivered to our state,” Shah said.
But these numbers also prove the challenge our state still faces. While 770,000 doses have been given, that's less than half of the 1.7 million people who are eligible under Phases 1A and 1B Tier 1.
“We are doing everything we can to increase the numbers as quickly as we can and we continue to work with our federal partners to increase the number of allotment vaccine into our state,” Shah said.
About 15,800 people have received doses of the vaccine through the state’s four mass vaccination sites since the sites opened.
Department of Health officials said the state has more than enough logistical capacity to meet its goal of vaccinating 45,000 people a day. But now the state just needs the vaccine supply from the federal government to get it done.