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.
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.
COVID-19 infection rates continue to spiral out of control in two Whatcom regions
The Bellingham Herald 1/20/2021 David Rasbach, The Bellingham Herald (Bellingham, Wash.)
Jan. 20 A week after the Whatcom County Health Department urged instant action in response to skyrocketing COVID-19 case numbers in northern parts of the county, infection rates in those areas spiraled even further out of control, according to new data.
Two regions in Whatcom now have infection rates well above 1,000 new cases per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks, according to data released Tuesday, Jan. 19, by the health department, as the region covered by the Lynden School District saw its rate increase by 410 to join the area covered by the Nooksack Valley School District.
By Kathi O Shea January 19, 2021 7:07 am
OLYMPIA, Wash. A new group has been announced as eligible for the coronavirus vaccine in Washington State.
Those in Phase 1B, Tier 1 are now eligible for the vaccine.
This group includes everyone over 65, and persons over 50 in multi-generational households, where individuals from 2 or more generations reside, such as an elder and a grandchild.
The Whatcom County Health Department says there has only been enough vaccine shipped to Whatcom County to vaccinate about 50-60% of the top priority Phase 1A workers who are already eligible.
The department says about one third of local pharmacies and healthcare providers are enrolled in the state’s vaccine program, and 30 more who have started the enrollment process.