Pierce County welcomes COVID vaccine expansion, seeks more volunteers to help rollout
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department on Wednesday applauded the accelerated timeline for those eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in Washington state, along with issuing a call for volunteers to help speed the rollout.
On Wednesday, Gov. Jay Inslee announced that all those 16 and older in Washington state would be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine starting April 15.
“Expanding eligibility to all adults is good news,” Karen Irwin, COVID-19 communications lead for the health department, told The News Tribune via email in response to the announcement.
She noted that through its multiple partners, including Pierce County Department of Emergency Management, MultiCare Health System, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health and Pierce County Medical Reserve Corps, thousands of people have been vaccinated in a day through its drive-thru clinics.
“Over the past three months, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department has scaled up to meet the needs of eligible people. Last week, an average of 5,300 people per day received a vaccine in Pierce County,” she wrote.
Multiple vaccine events have been announced this week, including four drive-thru clinics between Friday and Saturday, including Cheney Stadium in Tacoma, White River High School in Buckley and Clover Park Technical College in Lakewood.
After launching Wednesday at 10 a.m., all 3,670 spots were filled by midday.
Health care providers, independent and retail pharmacy stores, grocery stores and mobile vaccination teams also are making shots available in the county, and pop-up clinics arranged via community partners.
“These community-led vaccine clinics will continue to bridge equity gaps,” Irwin noted.
The county is relying on hundreds of volunteers to staff the events, and on Wednesday, ahead of the governor’s announcement, the health department issued a call for more volunteers to assist.
“We need vaccinators, clinicians and non-clinical volunteers this weekend and next week,” it wrote on Twitter.
Those qualified can sign up at the following sites:
▪ Community vaccination event clinicians:
signupgenius.com/go/clinicalvaccinevolunteers
▪ Community vaccination event, nonclinical volunteers:
signupgenius.com/go/nonclinicalvaccinevolunteers
This story was originally published March 31, 2021 at 3:53 PM.
