Vaccination clinic tentatively scheduled for Saturday

MOSES LAKE — The Grant County Vaccine Task Force tentatively scheduled a mass COVID-19 vaccination clinic Saturday at the Grant County Fairgrounds in Moses Lake.

Misty Aguilar, public information officer for the Grant County Health District, said the schedule and the number of appointments available will depend on vaccine availability.

That follows mass vaccination clinics in the last two weekends in Grand Coulee, Quincy and Ephrata, and a decision by the GCHD to expand the pool of eligible vaccine recipients, which came a few days earlier than the estimate by the Washington Department of Health because appointments weren’t completely booked.

So, health district officials announced March 25 people in the next phase of eligibility, called Phase 1A, Tiers 3 and 4, now can get the vaccine. Department of Health officials estimated the next expansion of availability would be about March 31.

Health district environmental health manager Stephanie Shopbell said Friday that under certain conditions, state officials have given local jurisdictions the option to expand the eligibility pool, subject to approval by the local health officer.

Aguliar said local jurisdictions must show they have offered the vaccine to all eligible groups, and still have doses left over, before they can expand the eligibility list.

All people 60 years of age and older in Grant County now are eligible for the vaccine, as well as people 16 years of age and older who have at least two underlying health conditions that put them at higher risk for complications. So are people in some congregate settings, such as those who work where homeless people live and access services, or in correctional facilities or group homes for the disabled. People who are at high risk for complications and who work in congregate settings, including construction and manufacturing, restaurants and food service, also are eligible.

The expansion was part of GCHD’s effort to distribute all available doses at the Ephrata clinic Saturday, Aguilar said, which was completely booked and personnel administered 622 shots.

Some of the previous mass vaccination clinics were not completely booked, and the task force could lose some of its future vaccine allocations if not all doses are administered, she said. The GCHD has started working with the Chelan-Douglas Health District and Okanogan County Public Health to ensure all residents in the four-county area are informed of eligibility and their options.