Feds more forthcoming about vaccine allotments

By Terry Murry on Friday, February 12th, 2021 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories

OLYMPIA – The Washington State Department of Health states its biggest problem in distributing vaccines throughout the state is due to federal supplies. That appears to be changing.

For the first time, DOH received a three-week allocation forecast from the federal government. Until recently, the department was not informed of what vaccine it would receive until Tuesday of each week. The feds have informed the state that it will now receive an estimate of the number of doses to be received for the coming three weeks.

Next week, DOH has been told to expect a total of 206,125 doses, with 113,800 for first doses and the remainder for second doses. The following week 240,620 releases are scheduled, with 123,160 first doses. The week of Feb. 28, DOH will get a projected 242,360 doses, with 128,560 slated for first doses.

“This information allows us to develop a multi-week strategy that helps with consistency and predictability,” DOH officials wrote in a release announcing the change. “We hope to have this plan fully in place in the coming weeks.”