Whatcom County is just days away from opening its first mass vaccination site on Saturday, March 13, and vaccination scheduling is underway in anticipation for the site’s launch at Bellingham Technical College (BTC). Once vaccine supply increases, organizers predict the site could vaccinate 5,000 people weekly.
“As this site ramps up, we will be able to greatly expand vaccine access for eligible people in Whatcom County,” said Shanon Hardie, co-chair of the Community Vaccination Center Steering Committee and Unity Care NW chief operating officer, in a media release. “We feel honored to help our community and we’re eager to start getting shots in arms.”
Organizers held a trial clinic on March 6 that vaccinated over 240 healthcare workers who work in the homes of vulnerable residents and people over 65 without internet access, Whatcom County Health Department director Erika Lautenbach said during a March 8 Whatcom County Council Committee of the Whole meeting.
“It felt very celebratory when I was there,” Lautenbach said. “It was exciting to see the change and the shift, and the ability for us to reach about 240 people on Saturday.”
The March 13 vaccinations will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., according to the media release.
“We have been hesitant to go full scale with this, for even a full day, because there’s just not been the supply yet,” Lautenbach said. “We don’t want to divert supply from our healthcare providers that are trying to get their patients and others vaccinated.”
The vaccination site is in partnership with the Whatcom County Health Department, Whatcom Unified Command, Bellingham Technical College, Whatcom Community College (WCC), Unity Care NW, Family Care Network, PeaceHealth, SeaMar and Hoagland Pharmacy. BTC and WCC students will administer the vaccine, along with healthcare workers and volunteers, according to the media release.
The vaccination site began taking appointments at 9 a.m. on March 10. Appointments opened online at prepmod.doh.wa.gov and people without internet, email or who need a translator can call 360/778-6075.
BTC is located at 3028 Lindbergh Avenue in Bellingham. For more information, visit whatcomcounty.us/covidvaccine and click on the community vaccination center icon in the top right corner. Call the Washington State Department of Health’s Covid-19 hotline, which also had Spanish translators, at 1-800/525-0127 or 888/856-5816 for additional help finding a vaccine provider and scheduling an appointment.
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