Thurston County’s weekend mass vaccine events filled up hours after they opened
All appointment slots for this weekend’s Thurston County COVID-19 vaccination events had filled up within about eight hours on Wednesday.
Drive-through appointments became available on Wednesday for Friday, Saturday and Sunday vaccination events at South Puget Sound Community College campus in west Olympia. Each site can administer between 1,000 and 1,200 doses on average each day, said county spokesperson Magen Johnson in a prepared statement.
People who are still looking for a vaccine appointment can find other providers through the state’s vaccine locator website. Links to appointments for mass vaccination events hosted by PHSS are typically posted on their website and social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, a few days before the events.
All adults in Washington state became eligible for the vaccine on Thursday, meaning all were eligible to sign up for this weekend’s events. Despite the expanded eligibility, the weekend appointment slots took about eight hours to fill, compared to about 15 minutes when fewer adults were eligible, the statement read.
Johnson declined Friday to confirm when more events will be scheduled next week because the county has not yet confirmed how many doses it will be allocated. The week of April 12, Thurston County Public Health and Social Services was allocated 5,570 total doses, according to the statement.
“Our schedule for mass vaccination events is dependent on the number of doses we receive, therefore, until we can confirm our allocation, we won’t be announcing mass vaccination events,” Johnson wrote. “Additionally, these events are only announced to the public once we can confirm we have the staff and volunteers to run the events.”
The state Department of Health will provide a total of 4,940 first doses and 7,270 second dose to all vaccine providers throughout Thurston County the week of April 19, the statement read. For comparison, those providers received 8,410 first doses and 3,800 second doses the week of April 12.
County officials expect vaccine supply will remain limited in the weeks ahead, meaning many residents may have to wait well into the summer to be fully vaccinated.
So far, PHSS has not had to cancel any events due to staffing shortages, according to the statement, however more volunteers are still needed. People interested in volunteering can sign up through the United Way of Thurston County website. Anyone with questions or concerns about volunteering can call 360-943-2773.
People with difficulties scheduling appointments online can call the Department of Health vaccine hotline at 888-856-5816 or the Thurston County public health line at 360-867-2610.
