Yakima County continues to receive additional doses of COVID-19 vaccines. As of January 7, 2021 Yakima, County has received 7,700 doses of both Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine. Of these 7,700, 5,750 were initial doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and 1,950 are boosters for providers who already received their first vaccine three weeks ago.
Of the 5,750 initial vaccine doses received, at least 3,000 have been administered to those in Phase A of the vaccine administration plan. These numbers do not include doses that have been administered to staff and residents of long-term care facilities through the Federal Pharmacy Partnership.
Across Yakima County, all three hospitals, all three federally qualified health centers have received the COVID-19 vaccine. In addition, a few local pharmacies have received vaccine to administer to staff and residents of long-term care facilities. Yakima County continues to focus on vaccinating only those who fall within the Phase A category of the Washington State COVID-19 Vaccination Plan.
Phase A1 includes high-risk workers in healthcare settings, high-risk first responders and residents and staff of long-term care facilities. Following A1, those in A2 (all other at-risk healthcare workers) will be prioritized. In some cases, A2 providers have already been vaccinated to ensure that the COVID-19 vaccine doses are utilized before they expire.
Facilities who have received the vaccine have focused on vaccinating their staff, and some are also vaccinating other Phase A providers. The Yakima Health District will maintain a list of providers currently taking appointments for Phase A providers to get vaccinated. This information will be updated frequently based on the location’s current vaccine availability. If you are a Phase A1 or A2 provider that is seeking a vaccine, please visit the Yakima Health District’s website to see a current list of providers currently scheduling for COVID-19 vaccination.
Yesterday, the Washington State Department of Health announced guidelines for Tier B. Tier B1 will include anyone over the age of 70, and anyone over the age of 50 who lives in a multi-generational household. While the state set a tentative timeline of end of January to begin the administration of COVID-19 vaccine to those eligible within Tier B, Yakima County will likely not move into Tier B until mid to late February. The timeline for how quickly we can move through our phases will depend on how much available vaccine is allocated to Yakima County.
The Yakima Health District will continue to provide weekly updates on local COVID-19 vaccine distribution to the community. These updates will be available directly to the media and on our vaccine webpage at: yakimacounty.us/2472/COVID-19-Vaccine.