People can start to make appointments in Clallam and Jefferson counties as early as Wednesday if they are older than 70 — 85 in Jefferson County — and want to get a COVID-19 vaccination.
These vaccination clinics are for some, but not all, people in the state-designated 1B1 category.
There also will be a drive-through clinic in Sequim for residents run by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe and a separate one in Forks run by the Quillayute Valley School District, the City of Forks and Forks Community Hospital.
The 1B1 category includes people older than 70 and caregivers in multi-generational households older than 50.
However, because of the limited amount of vaccine available in Clallam and Jefferson counties, only people older than 70 will be included for now.
In fact, Jefferson County is going to begin with vaccinations for people 85 and older, then move to people older than 70.
“We have 9,000 people in the county over 70,” said Clallam County Health Officer Dr. Allison Berry Unthank. “Older folks are the highest risk.”
The Sequim clinic will be a drive-through area from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday and Saturday, as well as Jan. 19, 21 and 23. A tent will be next to the James Center for the Performing Arts band shell in Carrie Blake Park, 202 N. Blake Ave.
The check-in location will be in the parking lot of Trinity United Methodist Church, 100 S. Blake Ave. in Sequim.
Meanwhile, for Port Angeles residents, there will be two weekends of vaccinations Saturday and Sunday, then Jan. 23-24. Both clinics will be hold at Port Angeles High School, 304 E. Park Ave.
Port Angeles residents are asked to schedule appointments on the county website, www.clallam.net. Unthank said appointment links are expected to go live Wednesday.
People without internet access can call the Clallam County Emergency Operations Center office at 360-417-2430 to schedule an appointment starting Wednesday.
Unthank said Port Angeles High School is ADA accessible for people in wheelchairs or otherwise disabled and that the county will be taking extraordinary precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 at the clinic. She said people will need to wear masks, and there will be social distancing inside.
The Forks clinic will be stationed Friday and Saturday at the Peninsula College campus parking area, 481 S. Forks Ave. Vaccinations will be available for those in the Phase 1B group — 70 or older and people 50 or older in a multigenerational household — from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
People should bring photo ID and arrive at 10 a.m. and remain in their car until they receive instructions. There will be about 200 doses of the Moderna vaccine each day.
Meanwhile, Jefferson County will begin 1B1 vaccinations as early as Jan. 18, county Health Officer Dr. Tom Locke told the board of county commissioners Monday. He expects Jefferson Healthcare to have information available by Wednesday on its website, jeffersonhealthcare.org, on how to make an appointment for its drive-though vaccination clinic at the hospital. A phone number for people without internet access had yet to be established by Monday afternoon.
New cases
Clallam County had 11 more cases reported Monday to give the county 835 positives since the pandemic began last March.
Forty-seven new cases have been reported since Friday, when positives from New Year’s Eve gatherings began to show up, Unthank said. Most are from parties in the Port Angeles area, and most of the recent positives are people in their 20s.
“What’s done is done,” she said. “Now we’re trying to make the fallout as little as possible.”
Unthank said most of the people infected are not having complications.
Clallam County has 75 active cases, and the county’s infection rate jumped from 113 per 100,000 populations during the past two weeks late last week to 143 per 100,000 on Monday.
Jefferson County reported two new cases to total 255 since last March and has 29 active cases in isolation. The county’s infection rate jumped from 88 per 100,000 during the past two weeks to 122.26 per 100,000 on Monday.
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Sports editor Pierre LaBossiere can be reached by email at plabossiere@peninsuladailynews.com.
