More than 50 percent of adults on the North Olympic Peninsula have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine as of Monday, local health officers said.
Officials continue to urge residents to get vaccinated as the Peninsula continues to see rising case numbers.
While state-recorded vaccination percentages include children, local health officers calculated the percentage of adults since a vaccine has yet to be approved for children 15 and younger.
About 55 percent of adults in Clallam County had received at least one dose of vaccine as of Monday, said Dr. Allison Berry, Clallam County health officer.
The state dashboard lists 45.25 percent of Clallam residents have begun vaccinations, with 35.74 percent completed as of April 14. The percent of adults fully vaccinated was not available as of Monday.
About 61.8 percent of adults in Jefferson County had received at least one dose of vaccine as of Monday, with about 45.2 percent having completed vaccination, Dr. Tom Locke, Jefferson County health officer, said during his Monday briefing with the county commissioners.
“We’re moving as rapidly as we can to vaccinate as many people as we can,” Locke said.
That state dashboard lists 54.49 percent of Jefferson residents had begun vaccinations as of April 14, with 39.88 percent fully vaccinated.
Jefferson County had its third death attributed to COVID-19 on Saturday, a male in his 60s with several severe co-morbidities, but “had it not been for the COVID infection, that person would have likely survived,” Locke said.
Both counties are continuing to see a rise in case numbers and rates, and both confirmed two new COVID-19 cases on Monday, according to county data.
Clallam County’s case rate is in the state’s high-risk category with 122 cases per 100,000 population for the past two weeks as of Monday, while Jefferson County’s rate is in the moderate-risk category with 72.10 cases per 100,000 for the two weeks prior as of Saturday.
Indoor dining and large indoor gatherings are some the riskiest activities for virus transmission, Locke said.
Berry said she’s concerned about Clallam County’s rising test positivity — the percentage of COVID-19 tests returned positive — which was 6.2 percent for April 2-16. The goal is to keep it less than 5 percent, she said.
The high positivity “suggests that many people are positive for COVID-19 and not getting tested, so they don’t know and are continuing to spread it in our community,” Berry said.
Jefferson County’s test positivity was 3.12 percent for April 12-18, according to county data.
Vaccination clinics
The Pfizer vaccine is the only one currently approved for people 16 and older, while Johnson & Johnson and Moderna are approved for those 18 and older. Johnson & Johnson remained on a temporary pause on Monday as investigators examine a potential link between very rare incidents of blood clots.
The state has created a vaccination locator at https://vaccine locator.doh.wa.gov.
Appointments for Jefferson Healthcare’s clinics can be made at https://jeffersonhealthcare.org/covid-19-vaccine.
Appointments for both Saturday and Sunday clinics at Port Angeles High School can be made at http://vaccine.clallam.net/register or by phone at 360-417-2430.
Jim’s Pharmacy in Port Angeles has Moderna appointments available today, Wednesday and Sunday. Appointments can be made at jimsrx.com.
Jefferson County Public Health’s appointment-only Moderna vaccination clinic this Saturday at the Chimacum School District Multi-Purpose Room has appointments available at bit.ly/jeffcovax or by calling 360-344-9791.
Forks Community Hospital has a Moderna vaccination clinic scheduled for April 30. More information can be found at www.ForksHospital.org.
Case counts
Clallam County has confirmed 106 cases of COVID-19 so far this month, about 9.05 percent of the 1,171 cases during the past year, according to county data.
Jefferson County has confirmed 28 cases so far in April, about 7.5 percent of the 374 cases in the past year, according to county Public Health data.
Forty-seven COVID-19 cases were active as of Monday in Clallam County. Jefferson County had 10 active cases.
In the past year, there have been three COVID-19 deaths in Jefferson County and seven in Clallam County as of Monday.
_______
Jefferson County reporter Zach Jablonski can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 5, or at [email protected]
