DOH Celebrates Early Success At Mass Vaccination Sites

OLYMPIA, WA — The Washington State Department of Health says their mass vaccination sites have been off to a solid start.

Monday will mark the start of the third week of vaccinations at Washington's four mass vaccination sites. Since the four sites opened to the public on Jan. 26, they have performed a combined 25,416 vaccinations, including:

• 6,021 in Spokane's Spokane Arena
• 6,702 at the Clark County Fairgrounds in Ridgefield
• 5,614 in Wenatchee at the Town Toyota Center
• and 7,079 at the Tri-Cities Fairgrounds in Kennewick

The vaccination sites in Spokane, Ridgefield and Kennewick can perform about 800 per day. Wenatchee's site can perform roughly 3,900 each week, or around 550 a day.

Residents can make an appointment to get a shot at any of the four sites at:

• Spokane Arena, Spokane
• Clark County Fairgrounds, Ridgefield
• Town Toyota Center, Wenatchee
• Tri-Cities Fairgrounds, Kennewick

To qualify for vaccination at any of the four sites, a resident must be in Phases 1A or 1B1 of the state's vaccination plan. That includes:

• Health care workers
• Medical first responders
• Residents and staff of long-term care facilities
• Anyone 65 and older
• Residents 50 or older and who live in a multigenerational household.

More mass vaccination sites are being planned, both by the state and by local leaders. King County and Pierce County in particular have both announced plans to create their own mass vaccination sites.

The sites are part of Washington state's recent commitment to significantly increase vaccination rates. At a news conference Jan. 18, the governor announced that the state had set a goal of administering 45,000 vaccinations daily, more than triple the vaccinations it had been performing before.

As of the latest update to the department of health's COVID-19 data dashboard, an average of 26,269 vaccinations were performed each day in the week ending Feb. 3, meaning the state is more than halfway to meeting its end goal.