PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center emergency room physician Raymond Lee receives one of the first COVID-19 vaccines administered at the center, performed by Michelle Finucane of PeaceHealth Employee Health, at the medical center Dec. 16, 2020.
The planned mass COVID-19 vaccination site for the Clark County Fairgrounds opened Tuesday, Jan. 26, according to Clark County Public Health.
The site, which will administer vaccines on an appointment-only schedule, will operate from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, according to an update from the health department Sunday, Jan. 24. Appointments can be made through mhealthcheckin.com/covidappt.
Currently Clark County is accepting appointments for individuals who fall into Washington state’s Phase 1a and 1b Tier 1 criteria. According to the appointment website, that includes healthcare personnel, long-term care facility residents, emergency medical personnel, individuals over the age of 65 and individuals over the age of 50 who live in multi-generational households.
Public Health stated that the state health department expected to be able to vaccinate up to 600 individuals at the fairgrounds site daily, with that number rising as supplies increase. The site is separate from Public Health’s own vaccination referral program, and the department recommends those who are eligible to be vaccinated and are awaiting a referral from Public Health to also seek an appointment at the fairgrounds vaccination site.
“Those who have submitted requests with Public Health will remain on our list, and we’ll continue to work with local health care facilities to get those individuals connected with vaccine as quickly as possible,” Clark County health officer and Public Health director Alan Melnick stated in an update last week, “However, some people may be able to be vaccinated sooner at the fairgrounds site.”
Clark County began accepting vaccination requests from individuals in the Phase 1b Tier 1 last week. Public Health will continue to accept vaccination requests from eligible individuals in the currently-accepted phases at clark.wa.gov/public-health/covid-19-vaccine.
“Given the large volume of requests and limited vaccine supply, it may take several weeks before people are contacted by a facility to schedule a vaccination appointment,” Public Health noted. As of Jan. 20 there had been 15,000 doses of the vaccine administered in Clark County, based on data from the Washington State Department of Health.
Federal vaccination support comes to Clark County
Clark County, along with Cowlitz and Skamania counties, will have federal help in their combined vaccination efforts as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approved a Type 1 incident management team as aid last week.
Clark County Public Health announced Jan. 20 that the application the three counties had made was approved. The team, one of 16 across the nation, comprises federal, state and local representatives who have experience responding to complex incidents, and arrived in Clark County the day prior to the announcement.
The three counties will work closely with the team to establish multiple community vaccination sites in the region, which will include mobile sites that can allow for vaccination at high-risk workplaces. Other community partners, such as health care providers and schools, will be involved in the process as well, Public Health reported.
“We are thrilled to have Pacific Northwest Incident Management Team 3 in Southwest Washington,” Melnick said in Public Health’s announcement. “Through a coordinated effort between the incident management team, the three counties and community partners, we will be able to more quickly and efficiently get people in Southwest Washington vaccinated against COVID-19.”
