A new death due to COVID-19 has been confirmed in Clallam County, raising the total number of deaths in the county to 68 and 85 for the North Olympic Peninsula since the pandemic began.
The most recent death was a man in his 60s who was unvaccinated, said Dr. Allison Berry, health officer for Clallam and Jefferson counties.
Jefferson County did not record any new deaths Wednesday. The county has had 17 since the pandemic began.
Berry expressed condolences to the man’s family.
“I think there are many of us have luckily not had to see in person just how severe this illness can be,” Berry said.
“But, for those health care workers who have been working on the front lines, we’ve seen it too often how very desperate a situation can become for someone infected with this virus, even if they’re healthy, which was the case here.
“We don’t want to see this happen anymore here, especially when we’re talking about these young and healthy people. These are preventable deaths.”
Berry continues to urge all residents to get vaccinated for COVID-19 if they haven’t already.
Officials have started to provide the pediatric doses of Pfizer’s vaccine for children 5 to 11 years old.
Appointments
Appointments are still available for the mass vaccination clinic put on by Jefferson County Public Health and Jefferson County Department of Emergency Management on Nov. 20 at Chimacum School District for 5- to 11-year-olds. They can be made by going to co.jefferson.wa.us/1429/COVID-19.
Vaccination clinic appointments for 5- to 11-year-olds in Clallam County are available through Olympic Medical Center from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at the Front Street Clinic, 901 E. Front St. in Port Angeles. Appointments can be made by calling 360-565-0999.
The state’s vaccination locator, at vaccinelocator.doh.wa.gov, lists pharmacies that offer the pediatric doses.
According to the latest data from the state Department of Health, 81.1 percent of the population 12 and older in Jefferson County have started vaccinations, with 77.3 percent fully vaccinated.
Of the entire population, 74.6 percent have begun vaccination and 71.1 percent are fully vaccinated, according to the state’s dashboard.
In Clallam County, 75.4 percent of the population 12 and older have started vaccinations, with 70.6 percent fully vaccinated.
Of the total population, 67 percent have begun vaccinations, with 62.7 percent fully vaccinated, according to the state’s dashboard.
Due to a processing error at the state level, Clallam County’s case rate and case totals were not able to be updated on Wednesday. Berry expects the updated data will be fixed today.
That may mean the overall case numbers will appear to have a larger spike than what’s been seen on average, because data from two days will be compiled, she said.
The updated case rate, however, will not be affected by the later recording, as it is compiled from testing date, not reporting, Berry said.
On Tuesday, Clallam County had a total of 5,050 cases confirmed since the start of the pandemic and the county had a case rate of 292 per 100,000 population for the past two weeks, according to county public health data.
Jefferson County’s data was updated, as many of the COVID-19 tests were from rapid antigen tests, which are recorded directly to the county. There were seven new cases added Wednesday, raising the county’s total to 1,209 since the pandemic began, according to county public health data.
In Jefferson County, health officials recorded about 181.82 cases per 100,000 for the two weeks prior as of Nov. 3. Before that, the county had 250.78 cases per 100,000 for the two weeks prior as of Oct. 27.
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Jefferson County reporter Zach Jablonski can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 5, or at zjablonski@peninsuladailynews.com.
