New vaccine clinic opens in Puyallup as state seeks higher vaccine numbers
A new COVID-19 vaccination clinic has opened this week in Puyallup, joining two others already operating in the area.
The new clinic is at the former Toys R Us site, 3551 9th St. SW.
The site will be open every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m., and is offering 1,500 first doses of Moderna vaccine.
Registration is open for spots through May 15 at the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department’s vaccine registration page: tpchd.org/vaxtothefuture. The site also accepts walk-ups without an appointment.
The clinic joins two other sites: one at the former Dress Barn location at Lakewood Towne Center, 10330 59th Ave. SW Suite B, open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; and one at Hilltop Family Medical Center, 1202 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Tacoma, open Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
The Lakewood site is administering 300 doses of Pfizer vaccine (first dose), while the Hilltop site is offering 200 doses of Moderna vaccine (first dose). Both sites also accept walk-ins. Those under age 18 receiving Pfizer vaccine (the only one approved for those 16-17) need to pre-register with a parent or guardian but do not need to be accompanied for the actual appointment.
Appointments are still available for first doses of Pfizer at the Tacoma Dome, which offers both drive-thru and walk-up services. Those under age 18 must be accompanied by parent or guardian.
The T-Dome clinic will be administering first doses the first three weeks, at which their second dose will be scheduled to occur in the last three weeks of the clinic. The goal is to vaccinate at least 1,170 people each day and administer an estimated 34,000 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.
To register, go to FindYourCovidShot.com and pick the day you want to be vaccinated. You can also call 253-798-8900 for help.
Path back to normal
Health officials reiterated this week that COVID-19 vaccines are ultimately our best chance at getting back to normal and to pursue further re-openings.
On Wednesday, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department moved away from its own 14-day case rate data to use the state’s version, which is what is used to determine phases for reopening.
The change came after the recent increase in cases started to show a wide disparity between the state’s measurement and the county’s version, which did not include cases reported from those living at JBLM and probable cases, both of which the state includes in its data.
The change was explained in a blog entry from the health department posted on Wednesday.
One of the biggest factors for the difference became the use of antigen tests, which the state started including as “probable” cases in December. The county said that while it also noted antigen test results, it kept them separate from the number of confirmed case tally.
According to the health department: “The CDC recommended, because of reduced accuracy of antigen tests, a follow up PCR test as an extra step of the antigen test for some people. Public health labeled positive antigen tests as ‘probable’ positive cases.”
“Over time, antigen tests have become more popular, and not all people who test positive follow up with PCR tests to confirm those results. In February, the difference between our reported case rate and the state’s was 10%. That has since grown to 25%,” the health department noted in its blog.
Pierce County’s metrics in the state’s Roadmap to Recovery dashboard continue to show rising case numbers, but hospitalizations have trended downward.
The state updates each county’s metrics in the late afternoon. According to its last update the afternoon of April 28, Pierce County’s rate of probable and confirmed COVID-19 cases per 100,000 over two weeks was at 365.3, which is well over the Phase 2 range of 200-350 cases per 100,000.
For Phase 2, new hospitalizations per 100,000 over seven days need to stay between 5-10 in Phase 2. Pierce County was doing better in that metric, with the latest reading at 4.7.
The next round of evaluations to determine whether Pierce County stays in Phase 2 will be late Monday, with the phase announcement coming Tuesday and with any change taking effect May 7. Counties can miss one of the two metrics and stay put. If they miss both, they backslide. Counties that meet both county-based metrics of a higher level phase can move forward one phase.
The state’s Secretary of Health Dr. Umair Shah said during the Department of Healths’ weekly COVID briefing that the state is starting to dig into the details of the vaccine’s effects amid the new fourth wave in the state.
“The case rates are increasing in all age groups except the those who are older, above the age of 60. The sharpest increases are those in the younger populations — youth and young adults,” Shah said.
“For those persons who are over the age of 65 who are unvaccinated, those individuals are being hospitalized (at a rate) 9.7 times higher than the rates of those who are fully vaccinated and are fully protected.”
He said this was further proof more people needed to be vaccinated as quickly as possible.
“I think this really underscores the point of why vaccines work, why vaccinations are important, and why we want to make sure that everybody including and especially those who are still thinking about it ... don’t hesitate, vaccinate.”
