Anxious Whatcom residents jam phone lines seeking appointments for COVID-19 vaccine
The Bellingham Herald 1/21/2021 Kie Relyea, The Bellingham Herald (Bellingham, Wash.)
Jan. 21 Anxious to know when they can be vaccinated against COVID-19, droves of Whatcom County residents are calling health care providers jamming their phone lines for hours, even crashing them.
Family Care Network has reported fielding thousands of inquiries.
PeaceHealth said it is experiencing a 4,000% increase in daily queries from the community.
The Whatcom County Health Department has reported getting an ever increasing number of calls, as has Unity Care NW. We are struggling to keep up with phone inquiries about vaccine availability while also answering calls from patients who are trying to access needed medical care, said Michele Anderson, spokesperson for Family Care Network, which is the primary care provider for nearly 100,000 patients in Whatcom and Skagit counties.
KXLY
January 21, 2021 11:39 AM Connor Sarles
Updated:
Lynne Sladky
OLYMPIA, Wash. The Washington State Department of Health is working to open four mass vaccination sites across the state by Monday, including the Spokane Arena, with the goal of vaccinating 45,000 people per day.
The DOH held its weekly briefing on Thursday, and officials say the state is aiming for around 45,000 vaccinations per day which would require roughly 300,000 doses of the COVID vaccine delivered to Washington every week.
Washington Department of Health holding weekly briefing right now & experts say the state needs to receive 300k doses per week to reach goal of 45,000 vaccinations per day.
Clark County Public Health is now accepting requests for COVID-19 vaccination for those who are eligible in Phase 1b Tier 1 of the state’s vaccination plan.
We have the will but more COVID vaccines needed, Whatcom health says, urging patience
The Bellingham Herald 1/20/2021 Kie Relyea, The Bellingham Herald (Bellingham, Wash.)
Jan. 19 Washington state may have expanded its list of who can get the COVID-19 vaccine in what s known as Phase 1B, which includes the elderly, teachers and agriculture workers but that doesn t mean it s available to all Whatcom County residents in those groups yet.
That has the Whatcom County Health Department, as well as state leaders, asking for patience amid a vaccine roll-out that has been slower than expected and bumpy. We have the will, the fire, and the ability to get everyone in Whatcom vaccinated, but we don t have the vaccines, said Cindy Hollinsworth, Communicable Disease manager for the Whatcom County Health Department, in a news release on Monday night, Jan. 18.
Clark County Public Health is now accepting requests for COVID-19 vaccination for those who are eligible in Phase 1b Tier 1 of the state’s vaccination plan.