SNOHOMISH COUNTY — Snohomish County anticipates a supply of 21,000 vaccine doses for county residents this week.
The county's newest vaccination site at Angel of the Winds Arena in downtown Everett is fully booked up for Wednesday but will be open for more appointments most of this week. To seek a vaccine there, visit https://prepmod.doh.wa.gov/ It is administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
The county plans to focus its other vaccination sites on primarily fulfilling second-dose vaccines this week, Dr. Chris Spitters, health officer for the Snohomish Health District, said this morning at a weekly press conference. Appointments should open later this week. To seek a vaccine through these sites, start by going to www.snohd.org/covidvaccine. These sites are at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds, Edmonds College, near Boeing, and at the Arlington Airport.
Veterans of all ages: The Veterans Affairs (VA) Puget Sound Health Care System is vaccinating all veterans of all ages. Their number is 206-716-5716 and website is https://www.pugetsound.va.gov/services/covid-19-vaccines.asp
County officials are celebrating that the COVID-19 case counts have fallen below 100 new cases per 100,000 residents for the first time in five months. The latest count rate is 84 cases per 100,000.
The contributing factors include that residents and staff in long-term care systems, as well as more people overall, are being vaccinated, Spitters said.
Approximately one-third of the county's senior population age 65 and up have now received at least their first dose of the vaccine, Spitters noted this morning.
As of March 5, more than 80,000 vaccines have been administered at the mass vaccination sites in Snohomish County.
Fifth vaccination site opens at Arena in Everett
A fifth mass vaccination site for the county opened Friday at Angel of the Winds Arena, 2000 Hewitt Ave. downtown. The Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine is being administered here.
A new registration system is in use for Angel of The Winds Arena appointments called PrepMod. Go to http://doh.wa.gov/prepmod to sign up.
The county’s four existing mass vaccination sites will remain in place at the Boeing Everett Activity Center, as well as the drive-thru sites at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe, Arlington Municipal Airport and at Edmonds College. Exact days and hours of operation for the sites vary based on vaccine availability.
The arena is a walk-up site, and being coordinated by the Snohomish County Vaccine Taskforce.
More to be eligible for vaccine this coming week
Gov. Jay Inslee announced Thursday, March 11 that the state has accelerated the timeline to make more people eligible for vaccines. The next wave opens Wednesday, March 17. This will include everybody who works in grocery stores, jails, law enforcement, food pro-cessing and other careers listed in Phase 1B-2. It comes as the Biden Administration intends to quicken the pace of vaccinations overall.
Teachers and other K-12 staff became instantly eligible for vaccines last week because of a Biden Administration federal directive. Inslee said in the news conference he disagreed with letting teachers leapfrog ahead when they were going to be eligible under Phase 1B-2.
Child care providers also are newly eligible.
The state hopes to see more than 50 percent of seniors age 65 and up in Phase 1B-1 vaccinated at the time it opens the next wave.
