18 years or older? Get vaccinated this weekend

The fire district and health clinic has scheduled a vaccination clinic this Saturday 1 – 2 p.m. after receiving 100 more doses of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine. Anyone who is 18 years or older is eligible to be vaccinated but will need to make arrangements with fire chief Christopher Carleton beforehand – in other words, don’t show up without an appointment.

You can contact the fire chief at 360/945-FIRE and leave a message if no one answers. The Moderna vaccine is a two-shot regime; recipients will need to return in four weeks’ time. All vaccinations are free as per federal law.

There are 57 slots available as 43 people have already confirmed appointments for Saturday.

To date, 461 residents have been fully vaccinated with either the Moderna (271) or the Johnson & Johnson vaccines (190). Another 211 people have received one dose of the Moderna for a total of 672 people being fully or partially vaccinated. Currently, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is not being given while the FDA/CDC review reports of rare blood-clotting incidents associated with its use. With 6.8 million doses administered, six women have experienced a rare form of cerebral and intestinal blood clotting. The fire district has 10 doses remaining from its initial allotment. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine has much easier storage requirements than either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines.

The fire district will also be offering Covid-19 testing on Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon. Speaking at the fire district commissioner meeting on Wednesday, Carleton reported that under six residents had recently tested positive for Covid-19 and in quarantine. “All of them have been following their quarantine plan,” he said, adding that, “They’ve been very honest with those people with whom they’ve been in contact.” The district has tested those contacts and have found no more positive cases.

Carleton said it wasn’t known where the cases originated but cautioned that residents “need to be careful especially when they haven’t been vaccinated. Keep being vigilant, don’t judge people. There’s still some people who are anti-maskers – don’t confront these people who may have their reasons, just keep your distance.”

Asked if he knew of people who didn’t want the vaccine, Carleton said he had less than five people who had said outright they didn’t want to get vaccinated. Currently, there are 82 people on the waiting list for vaccinations, but Carleton believed some of those had probably gotten vaccinated elsewhere.