Clallam, Jefferson counties making headway on vaccine shots

By Zach Jablonski • February 25, 2021 9:00 am

More than a quarter of the Clallam County population — 26 percent — has received at least one dose of vaccine against COVID-19, while Jefferson County has provided both doses to 13 percent of its residents.

County health officers, hospital personnel and others have been deluged with calls form people who live outside the North Olympic Peninsula inquiring about the availability of vaccine, but the clinics on the Peninsula are only for local residents, officials emphasized.

Both Dr. Tom Locke, Jefferson County health officer, and Dr. Allison Berry, Clallam County health officer, said there have been calls from non-residents of both counties hoping to get appointments because of patchwork systems in other counties but to no avail.

As of Saturday, 30,843 vaccine doses have been administered in Clallam County, while 10,600 doses have been administered in Jefferson County, according to the state dashboard.

The Jefferson County Department of Emergency Management hopes to host vaccination clinics in South County soon; that will depend upon vaccine supply — which the state is expected to increase in early to mid-March, Locke said.

Both Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccines require two doses. The vaccine in each shot is the same, but one can’t mix with the other. In other words, if the first shot was the Pfizer vaccine, then the second must be, too — and the same for Moderna shots.

Peninsula clinics are scheduled as follows:

• The Sequim clinic set today is booked. Future appointments for the Sequim clinic hosted by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe will reopen at 9 a.m. Wednesday, March 3, according to the Jamestown Family Health Clinic website.

• Appointments for the clinic at the Port Angeles High School on Saturday and Sunday opened Wednesday at 9 a.m. for area residents that are Phase 1A members or are 65 and older. Appointments were still available as of 3:15 p.m. Wednesday. Qualified people can register at vaccine.clallam.net/register. Those who must schedule by phone can call 360-417-2430.

• A Clallam Bay clinic hosted by Clallam County Fire District No. 5 and Forks Community Hospital is set from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday at the Clallam Bay High School for residents in the 1B1 group, said Heidi Anderson, the hospital’s chief executive officer.

• A clinic at the Forks High School auxiliary gym is set from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. March 6, Anderson said.

It will be first-come, first-served at both West End clinics. Each clinic will offer Moderna’s vaccine. People can come for either first or second doses. Those seeking second doses will need to present their vaccination cards.

Anderson emphasized the shots are for Clallam County and West Jefferson County residents only. She said the hospital has received calls from people all over the state.

• Jefferson Healthcare is making appointments for vaccinations through its “When is it my turn?” list, which Jefferson County residents 65 and older or Jefferson Healthcare patients can sign up for at jeffersonhealthcare.org/covid-19-vaccine.

• The Veteran Affairs Port Angeles Clinic is offering vaccinations to veterans who are health care eligible on a limited basis by calling 206-716-5716.

• Limited vaccinations also are offered at some local pharmacies such as Safeway, Costco and QFC. Locations, availability and how to register can be found at tinyurl.com/VaccineLocations.

For more information about Clallam County vaccinations, see the Olympic Medical Center website at olympicmedical.org/covid-19-vaccine-information.

More information on Jefferson County vaccinations can be found at Jefferson Healthcare’s website at jeffersonhealthcare.org/covid-19-vaccine.

Another source of information is the state Department of Health website at doh.wa.gov.

Clallam County’s test positivity — the percentage of tests returned positive — was 2 percent from Feb. 7-21, according to Clallam County Public Health data.

Jefferson County’s test positivity was 0.51 percent for Feb. 15-21.

On Wednesday, Clallam County confirmed three new cases. So far this month, it has confirmed 50 cases of COVID-19, about 5 percent of the 996 cases reported since last March, according to Clallam County data.

Jefferson County had two new cases Wednesday. It has confirmed 29 cases of COVID-19 this month, about 8.71 percent of the 333 it reported since last March, according to Jefferson County Public Health data.