Submitted by the Whatcom County Health Department
The Washington State Department of Health (DOH), the Washington National Guard, and Whatcom County Health Department (WCHD) have partnered to bring a mobile vaccination team to Whatcom County, focusing on high-risk individuals with difficulty accessing other vaccine providers.
With a geographic focus on northwest Washington—Whatcom, Skagit, San Juan, Island, and Snohomish Counties— the 28-member Washington National Guard team is the newest of three mobile units that the Guard has deployed around the state.
The mobile team began its work in independent and senior living communities in Bellingham last week, and continues with clinics at Bellingham Housing Authority properties this week. Over this two-week period, the team will administer 200 Johnson & Johnson doses and 500 Moderna doses at six different facilities. They will return to the same facilities to administer the second Moderna dose next month.
“DOH has been working with the National Guard at mass vaccination sites around the state and we’re excited to work with their mobile vaccination teams as well,” said Andrea Een, the DOH on-site coordinator at the Whatcom County clinics. “The Guard is extremely efficient and is expert at running these clinics smoothly.”
“The National Guard’s support means that we’re able to get vaccines to some of our most vulnerable neighbors, such as seniors who have difficulty traveling to other vaccine providers,” said Erika Lautenbach, director of the Whatcom County Health Department. “We’re grateful for their help in filling one of the gaps in how vaccines are administered in the county.”
The doses administered by the National Guard are delivered to the Whatcom County Health Department by DOH each week. WCHD receives and stores the vaccines until they are used at each clinic.
The Whatcom County Health Department will provide updates on vaccine availability as information becomes available at www.whatcomcounty.us/covidvaccine.
