90% Of Washington's Vaccine Deliveries Delayed By Winter Weather

OLYMPIA, WA — Washington's vaccination journey encountered another barrier this week, as extreme winter weather across the nation continued to delay shipments from Pfizer and Moderna, state officials announced Thursday.

In a news briefing Thursday morning, the state Department of Health estimated it had yet to receive more than 90 percent of the doses allocated this week. Similar delays are affecting states nationwide, leading to supply shortages and prompting mass cancellations of appointments.

In Washington, no shipments were delivered from Moderna, and only limited doses from Pfizer arrived Tuesday and Wednesday. As a result, the state closed mass vaccination sites in Kennewick and Spokane through the weekend and plans to close the Ridgefield site Saturday. Officials said the shortages will likely force other providers to reschedule appointments into next week.

The Department of Health had earlier announced this week's vaccine administration efforts would prioritize second doses, meaning availability for initial appointments was already severely limited.

Despite this week's headaches, Washington leaders shared some good news on the horizon, including a gradual increase in shipments promised over the next three weeks. Health officials said it was also possible that the late deliveries joined with next week's added shipments could provide a temporary windfall in available doses and allow providers to administer more vaccines than average.

Here's the federal government's shipment forecast for Washington through the first week of March:

• Week of February 21: 263,570 total doses (146,110 first doses, 117,460 second doses)
• Week of February 28: 269,270 total doses (146,110 first doses, 123,160 second doses)
• Week of March 7: 292,220 total doses (146,110 first doses, 146,110 second doses)

Another boon to Washington's overall efforts is the expansion of a federal pharmacy program, which will begin supplying Walmart, Rite Aid, QFC and Fred Meyer next week, adding to Safeway, Costco and Health Mart. According to DOH, Washington pharmacies received about 22,500 doses through this week and anticipate a "big boost" next week.

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Before the most recent setbacks, the state said providers had successfully administered nearly 83 percent of the doses delivered since vaccinations began in December, for a total of more than 1.2 million. On average, Washington is vaccinated 26,000 people each day, on the road to a goal of 45,000.

Health officials concluded Thursday's briefing on a hopeful note from Dr. Scott Lindquist, state epidemiologist for communicable diseases, pointing to weeks of data showing Washington's coronavirus trends heading in the right direction.

"I'm boiling down a lot of complex epidemiology into this phrase: We're down the backside of this third wave, it looks really, really promising," Lindquist said. "What we've done in Washington is clearly working, with the new vaccines on board, lots of people getting vaccinated, our rates for our case counts coming down are putting us in a very new era in this epidemic in Washington state."

Epidemiologist, Scott Lindquist, shares a quick message of hope at this morning's media briefing. pic.twitter.com/GZuj5obxKg
— WA Dept. of Health (@WADeptHealth) February 18, 2021