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.