FEMA Approves Yakima Mass Vaccination Site

YAKIMA, WA — FEMA has approved Washington's request for a new mass vaccination site serving the Yakima Valley.

Now that it has received their approval, FEMA, the state and the Yakima County Health District will be teaming up to create a new, drive-thru vaccination site at the Central Washington State Fair Park. The program will also support several mobile vaccination units who will bring the vaccine out to more rural communities like Selah, Naches, and Toppenish.

“We are so appreciative to FEMA and our other federal partners for working with the state to make significant additional resources available to the people of the Yakima Valley,” said Gov. Jay Inslee. “This will be a tremendous boost to our vaccine equity efforts and will also reach out directly to Washingtonians who don’t have the means of transportation to a fixed vaccination site.”

The site is welcome news for Yakima County, which has been ravaged by COVID-19 outbreaks in its agricultural sector. As of Friday, the county has seen 27,576 total coronavirus cases — nearly as many as Snohomish County, despite having around a third of the population. There were times during the pandemic when Yakima County had the most COVID-19 cases per capita of anywhere on the west coast.

The mass vaccination site is set to open March 31. They expect to start slow, administering around 200 vaccines per day, before ramping up to 1,200 vaccinations every 24 hours, the governor's office says.

To get a dose, eligible residents will need to either register for an appointment online or by calling 1-800-525-0127. The site will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday through Sunday. It will also be open from noon to 6 p.m. Thursdays.

Vaccines administered at the FEMA site will come directly from the federal government, meaning they will not come out of the state's weekly vaccine allotments.

The site will be the state's sixth major mass vaccination site. There are four state-run vaccination sites in Spokane, Ridgefield, Wenatchee and Kennewick. The City of Seattle and Swedish Health Services run the fifth at the Lumen Field Events Center.