The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) continues to make progress with our COVID-19 vaccine distribution and administration efforts.

As of April 10, more than 4,189,884 doses of vaccine have been given across the state, which is more than 82% of the 5,094,380 doses that have been delivered to our providers and long-term care programs. Washington is currently averaging 57,577 vaccine doses given each day and more than 22% of people in Washington are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. This information can be found on the DOH data dashboard under the vaccines tab, which is updated three times per week.

Everyone 16+ eligible for vaccine April 15

Thursday everyone 16 and older will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in Washington. Expanding eligibility will help protect our communities and slow the spread of the disease. Currently about four to five million people are eligible for vaccine. Beginning April 15, about 1.5 million more people will be eligible. As we move into the next tier, it may be more difficult to find an appointment. We ask that people please be patient and know that while you may not get the vaccine today, you will get it soon.

Currently Pfizer-BioNTech is the only COVID-19 vaccine authorized for people 16 years of age and older. We are working to add vaccine type to our Vaccine Locator webpage and mobile app to help simplify the process. In the meantime, we encourage providers to clearly identify the type of vaccine they are offering for available appointments. If the vaccine type is not listed, people may need to contact the provider.

Pausing Johnson & Johnson vaccine

Use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been put on hold in Washington following guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as they review data involving six reported cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot in individuals who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The action is being taken out of an abundance of caution and the potential side effects appear to be extremely rare. More than 6.8 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine have been administered in the U.S., including about 169,000 doses in Washington. We are not aware of these potential side effects happening to anyone in our state.

Allocation update

Our three-week vaccine allocation forecast is an estimate that helps with planning at the state and local level. The numbers are subject to change as vaccine availability from the federal government may change.

Week of April 18: 364,700 total doses (191,680 first doses, 173,020 second doses)
- This includes 210,600 doses of Pfizer and 154,100 doses of Moderna
Week of April 25: 370,340 total doses (191,680 first doses, 178,660 second doses)
- This includes 212,940 doses of Pfizer and 157,400 doses of Moderna
Week of May 2: 377,360 total doses (191,680 first doses, 185,680 second doses)
- This includes 219,960 doses of Pfizer and 157,400 doses of Moderna

In addition to Pfizer and Moderna, the forecast shows Washington will receive 4,300 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine each week. We have reached out to our federal partners to see if these allocations will change following the decision to pause use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The above is a press release from WA State Dept. of Health. The Auburn Examiner has not independently verified its contents and encourages our readers to personally verify any information they find may be overly biased or questionable. The publication of this press release does not indicate an endorsement of its content.