Josephine Peterson and Debbie Cockrell: Pierce County announces plan to host COVID-19 vaccination events when shots are available

Jan. 15—Pierce County plans to hold mass COVID-19 vaccination events in an effort to speed up the vaccination process.

The county's goal is to administer 4,600 vaccines a day, delivering a total of 700,000 doses to 350,000 people, according to a statement released on Friday morning.

"This will augment the vaccination effort currently underway by pharmacies and health care providers," the county statement said.

Pierce County director of Emergency Management Jody Ferguson told The News Tribune on Friday the department does not have any COVID-19 vaccines at the moment, but plans to partner with pharmacies, health care companies and the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department to distribute their allocations.

She said the plan is contingent on available vaccines.

"As soon as we hear that it's available and ready to go, we will set up sites based on the quantities we're able to get, and we will follow that guidance," Ferguson said. "Our responsibility is to build that infrastructure and make sure it's ready to go. So if it trickles in, we can get those doses out. If it floods in, we can get those doses out."

The rollout looks to include three mass vaccination sites and several mobile locations by the end of January, or as soon as the vaccine is available.

The plan also includes up to eight mobile vaccination sites and "drop teams" that can bring vaccinations to those unable to travel to established sites, such as assisted living facilities, adult family homes and other priority groups, the statement said.

The locations have yet to be determined, but considerations include proximity to public transportation, equitable access and geographic diversity. Ferguson said they need areas with a lot of space like large parking lots for at least eight drive-thru lanes as well as walk-up access.

For more remote parts of the county, she is looking at RVs and trailers for smaller locations.

"The best way to serve our community, I think, is to go to them," Ferguson said. "How can we go to every corner of the county to the most rural areas to ensure groups are being vaccinated?"

These events are for those still seeking vaccines in Phase 1A, then following the subsequent phases in alignment with state's plan, Ferguson said. Phase 1A includes health care workers and first responders at high risk and residents and staff at long-term care facilities.

"It's taken too long for our residents to get COVID vaccinations, so we are implementing a local plan to get this done," County Executive Bruce Dammeier said in a statement.

The initial weeks of the vaccination effort are estimated to cost $4 million, which is expected to be reimbursed by state or federal funding sources, the county said.

Pierce County Council will consider an emergency budget request at its 3 p.m. meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 19.

DISTRIBUTION ISSUES

As of Jan. 15, 696,175 doses have been sent to Washington, 242,606 of which have been administered during Phase 1A, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That total includes both the first and second doses of vaccine.

About 58,000 are eligible for the vaccine in Phase 1A in Pierce County, Karen Irwin, COVID-19 communications lead for the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, told The News Tribune this week.

The health department reported on its COVID-19 dashboard as of Jan. 13: "About 20,700 people who either live or work in Pierce County have received their first dose of vaccine. Last week, more than 5,000 people received the vaccine."

Pierce County's Department of Emergency Management purchased freezers that will ensure COVID-19 vaccines are preserved at the required low temperature several months ago. The county is relying on volunteers and partners in the medical community to administer the vaccine shots.

"It's about leveraging the strength in our community," Ferguson told The News Tribune.

Once taken from the freezers, the Pfizer vaccine expires after five days. It cannot be refrozen, CDC guidelines say. Six hours after the vaccine is mixed with the diluent, it must be discarded.

To avoid vaccine waste, Ferguson said, the county is looking to have waiting lists of whomever is in the state-approved phase for extra doses.

The frustration with the state's rollout plan has been apparent in the weeks since the initial launch in December. On Wednesday, state Department of Health Secretary of Health Umair Shah noted that among the problems, allotments to the state from the federal government had not increased despite a call from federal health officials to expand the pool of recipients, and the state still did not have good information on tracking where the doses were in terms of actually administering them to people.

"The vast majority of vaccine is actually somewhere in the system," Shah said Wednesday. "It's whether it's in the shelf of a provider, whether it's being ready to be given in a room of a provider, whether it's in a hospital system, or whether it's somewhere in between."

Asked about the bottleneck in receiving vaccines, Ferguson said, "My view is the county needs to build the infrastructure for whatever vaccines becomes available, and I can only comment on the number of vaccines that have come directly to me, and which is zero."

On Friday, Gov. Jay Inslee on Twitter accused the Trump administration of deceiving states after emptying the nation's reserve of vaccine.

"Governors were told repeatedly by @HHSgov there was a strategic reserve of vaccines, and this week, the American people were told it'd be released to increase supply of vaccine. It appears now that no reserve exists. The Trump admin. must answer immediately for this deception," he wrote.

For now, vaccine distribution updates with locations for qualifying individuals, can be found at tpchd.org/healthy-people/provider-resources/covid-19-vaccine and at the state Department of Health's website: doh.wa.gov/YouandYourFamily/Immunization/VaccineLocations

Additional vaccine details also are on the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department blog.

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