Over 30,000 Washingtonians have been vaccinated for COVID-19

Last week, providers across Washington State began administering initial doses of COVID-19 vaccine to high-risk health workers.

An update from the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) revealed that over 30,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine have been administered as of Wednesday.

This week, the DOH has allocated 44,850 Pfizer doses and 127,900 Moderna doses including 153,925 doses distributed to more than 220 sites in 37 counties, 18,825 doses distributed to support long-term care facilities, 14 Tribes, and Urban Indian Health Programs.

“Over the next several weeks, there will continue to be a limited supply of vaccine,” said the DOH in a news release. “Additionally, vaccine will not be delivered on Christmas or New Year’s Day. In early 2021, we hope to move to a consistent pattern of ordering and delivery, to continue the growth of COVID-19 vaccine availability in Washington state.”

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The DOH expects that it will take until around mid-to-late January to finish vaccinating these groups in order to begin offering the vaccine to the next eligible groups.

The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is a two-dose vaccine given 21 days apart. Clinical trial data show that the vaccine is 95% effective at preventing the COVID-19 infection starting seven days after the second dose. Individuals will not be considered fully protected until one to two weeks after they receive the second dose.

The Washington Department of Health (DOH) was contacted by Operation Warp Speed on Thursday evening and told that Washington’s Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine allocation for the week of December 21 would be 44,850 doses rather than the 74,100 doses they were expecting.

Around 183,800 doses of the single-dose Moderna vaccine should arrive by the end of December.