More people now eligible for COVID-19 vaccine. Here’s where to get a shot this week
Eligible Thurston County residents can register for a vaccination appointment at South Puget Sound Community College or Providence Medical Group this week.
Appointments for a Wednesday event at the college filled up before noon but appointments for a Thursday event are now open, according to a Thurston County Public Health and Social Services tweet. More events at the college are planned through Sunday, health department director Schelli Slaughter said Tuesday.
The multi-day events at SPSCC are a repeat of similar events held last week and come as significantly more people become eligible for a vaccine dose. In addition to the college, residents can also register online for a Saturday appointment at Providence Medical Group’s Lacey Family Medicine.
As of Wednesday, people in Phase 1B Tier 2 are eligible: high-risk critical workers, pregnant people and people with disabilities that put them at high risk.
Those seeking vaccinations can schedule appointments after establishing their eligibility through the state’s FindYourPhaseWA.org website. Links to appointments for the SPSCC mass vaccination events are being posted at the Thurston County COVID-19 website.
Thurston PHSS Department Director Schelli Slaughter previously said 20% of the allocation PHSS receives will be reserved for people who lack internet access or have difficulty scheduling an appointment online. Such people can call the Department of Health vaccine hotline at 888-856-5816 or the Thurston County public health line at 360-867-2610 for information on vaccine availability.
According to PHSS, workers are considered critical and high risk if they work in congregate settings including agriculture, food processing, grocery stores, food banks and public transit.
Congregate staff in correction facilities, prisons, jails, detention facilities and court facilities are also eligible as well as first responders and childcare program workers not covered by a previous tier.
People with disabilities that put them at high risk does not mean people with underlying conditions, according to public health. Rather, this phase refers to those who have an intellectual or developmental disability that prevents them from fully understanding or being able to follow COVID-19 safety guidelines.
All people who were previously eligible such healthcare workers, those 65 or older, those 50 or older living in multi-generational households, pre-kindergarten through 12th grade educators and childcare workers can still sign up for an appointment.
So far, 79,217 doses have been administered in Thurston County, Slaughter said. She said 19.5% of county residents have received their first dose and 11.87% are fully vaccinated. That’s up from about 15% having received their first dose and 9% being fully vaccinated last week.
Over the last week, Slaughter said Thurston County providers received 9,710 doses. The county administered 3,947 of those doses at various events, including at SPSCC.
“We had four days of successful events at South Puget Sound Community College, which was our first weekend operating that event,” Slaughter said. “I just want to say a special thanks to all of the volunteers and staff that made that possible.”
Looking ahead to next week, Slaughter said providers in the Thurston County region expect to receive 11,380 total doses, including 8,740 first doses and 2,640 second doses. She said the county health department plans to administer 5,140 doses this week at various events.
People interested in volunteering at the county’s mass vaccination events can register with the United Way of Thurston County on their website. The United Way already has organized hundreds of volunteers for the county’s recent mass vaccination events and will be on the lookout for more volunteers over the next few weeks, executive director Chris Wells previously told The Olympian.
This story was originally published March 17, 2021 at 1:42 PM.
