Vaccines by the Numbers

During the week of February 1st, providers in Whatcom County are due to receive 700 first doses of COVID-19 vaccine. To date, providers in Whatcom County have received a total of 14,550 vaccine doses. 

See the graphic below for more vaccine data for Whatcom County. 

Here’s what this data shows:

• Number of individuals and Percent of Whatcom County residents who have received their first dose of the vaccine. This data is based on the vaccine recipient’s county of residence, and may include doses given by providers outside of Whatcom County.  
• Number of individuals and percent of Whatcom County residents who have received both the first and second dose of the vaccine. Individuals who have received both doses are identified as “fully vaccinated.” This data is based on the vaccine recipient’s county of residence, and may include doses given by providers outside of Whatcom County. 
• Number of first doses of vaccine allocated to Whatcom County providers during the most recent week. This is the number of first doses of vaccine that will be delivered to Whatcom County providers this week. 
• Number of first doses of vaccine allocated to Whatcom County providers. This is the number of first doses of the vaccine that have been delivered to Whatcom County providers from DOH to date. 
• Number of doses given by Whatcom County providers. This is the number of first and second doses that have been administered by vaccine providers in our county. Doses are given to anyone, and could include people who live outside of Whatcom County.

Most of this data comes from DOH’s Data Dashboard and the tables below it. The doses allocated each week are not included in the data dashboard.

Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) Partnership with Kaiser Permanente

Last week, Kaiser Permanente and OSPI announced their Get Ready Plan, a partnership that will work to support vaccination of public and private school employees in Washington state. Under this plan Kaiser Permanente has committed their staff and facilities to help improve vaccination efficiency for school employees and provide them with another option for accessing COVID-19 vaccination. School employees get vaccinated through their healthcare providers, or other routes, but this will provide an additional option throughout the state. 

More details about the Get Ready Plan will be released by OSPI. You can stay informed and updated by checking OSPI’s website or reading this OSPI blog post.   

WCHD Vaccine Town Hall

In order to continue providing reliable, timely, and vital updates about the COVID-19 vaccine in Whatcom County, we are hosting a Town Hall on Thursday, February 4th from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Several leading community healthcare providers will be in attendance, including Family Care Network, PeaceHealth, Sea Mar Community Health Centers and Unity Care Northwest. The Town Hall will be moderated by Erika Lautenbach, Director of the Whatcom County Health Department. We’ll be discussing where we are in vaccine eligibility and supply, doses given so far, vaccine clinic protocols at each of the providers, and planning efforts for large-scale community vaccination. 

The meeting is part of an ongoing effort to keep you informed of our community’s COVID-19 vaccination efforts, plans, and progress. To attend the meeting, you can join this Microsoft Teams Meeting on the date and time of the event.

Here are the details:

• What: Vaccine Planning Town Hall.
• When: Thursday, February 4th from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
• Who: Representatives from Family Care Network, PeaceHealth, Sea Mar Community Health Centers and Unity Care Northwest, facilitated by the Whatcom County Health Department.
• Where: you can join the virtual meeting at this link.

Washington State Department of Health (DOH) COVID-19 Vaccine Hotline and PhaseFinder

DOH has opened a COVID-19 Vaccine Hotline that can be reached at 1-800-525-0127, then press #. You can use this hotline to:

• Get help navigating the PhaseFinder online tool.
• Get a list of the vaccine providers near you. Call takers can tell you which providers in your area are taking appointments, but they can’t make an appointment for you.
• Make an appointment at one of the four state-run vaccination sites. Help to make appointments at the four DOH mass vaccination sites is available 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

If you have access to online tools, the fastest service is self-service. DOH is strongly encouraging people to use Phase Finder and make appointments using the links there. If someone isn’t comfortable using online tools, asking a friend or family member may be the next best choice. This keeps the hotline available for those who have no internet access or help.

The Phase Finder tool does not schedule appointments. It only determines if you are currently eligible to be vaccinated. If eligible, it will show you a list of providers who have shared their information with DOH. Those wanting an appointment need to schedule the appointment with the provider using the contact information they specify.

The vaccine locations list on PhaseFinder is made up of providers who are enrolled in the vaccine program, are offering open locations, and have given DOH public-facing contact information for their location. Being listed does not guarantee that there is available vaccine, as they may already be booked up. At this time, DOH is not adding providers who have asked to be removed or who have not given us public-facing information.

More Information

More information about the COVID-19 vaccine, vaccine planning, and vaccine safety can be found on the DOH’s COVID-19 vaccine web page at www.covidvaccinewa.org. For information about the COVID-19 vaccination in Whatcom County, visit our webpage at www.whatcomcounty.us/covidvaccine.