Mass vaccination clinics wrap up; counties moving to popup sites

More than 900 people received a dose of COVID-19 vaccine on April 24 at Port Angeles High School, Clallam County Undersheriff and Emergency Management Director Ron Cameron said the following day.

It was the final weekend for first-dose mass vaccinations as Clallam County health officials transition to community pop-up clinics, Cameron said.

He said 906 people received a dose of the Pfizer vaccine at the Saturday clinic in Port Angeles.

In Jefferson County, 455 doses of Moderna vaccine were administered at the mass vaccination clinic at Chimacum High School, Health Officer Dr. Tom Locke said.

Of those, 147 were first doses and 308 were second-dose inoculations, Locke said.

No new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Clallam or Jefferson counties on Sunday.

Clallam County’s 13-month case count remained at 1,196 as of Sunday, Health Officer Dr. Allison Berry said in a text message.

Jefferson County’s case count remained at 380, Locke said.

“We are seeing a leveling off of cases,” Berry said in her weekly COVID-19 briefing Friday.

“We’re still very much in the high transmission rate, but we are at least starting to see a plateau, which is hopeful.”

Clallam County had a 5.3 percent positivity rate last week. There have been seven COVID-19 deaths in Clallam County since March 2020, and 1,151 have recovered from their infections, according to the county health department.

Jefferson County had a 1.71 percent positivity rate and three COVID-19 deaths since March 2020, health officials said.

“We do think we have largely controlled the first wave of the B117 variant in our community, but with people continuing to travel, we are likely to continue to see additional variants coming into our community,” Berry said in her briefing.

The B117 variant was prevalent in the Interstate 5 corridor and had infected some in Clallam County.

The P1 Brazilian variant was spreading in the Puget Sound region, Berry said.

“We have not seen that (P1) variant here yet, but certainly we’re seeing a lot of it in Seattle,” Berry said.

“So it’s kind of a matter of time before we start to see it here. The vaccines, of course, are still incredibly effective.”

All Washington residents 16 and older are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. Appointments are available at a variety of clinics across the North Olympic Peninsula.

Vaccinations are free, and a second-dose appointment is made when a person receives their first inoculation.

The state has created a vaccination locator at vaccinelocator.doh.wa.gov.

Appointments for Jefferson Healthcare’s clinics can be made at jeffersonhealthcare.org/covid-19-vaccine.

Many local pharmacies are scheduling individual appointments.

Information about Clallam County’s clinics can be made at clallam.net/coronavirus or by phone at 360-417-2430.

Forks Community Hospital has a Moderna vaccination clinic scheduled for Friday. More information can be found at ForksHospital.org.

“Our hope is that if more of us can get vaccinated, we can all get back to a more normal life sooner rather than later and prevent significant surges in our community,” Berry said.