Central Washington Receives Its First COVID-19 Vaccines Tuesday

COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer arrived at Central Washington Hospital (CWH) in Wenatchee Tuesday.

Vaccine Coordinator Tyler Fischback said they received 975 doses. The Department of Health is projecting a steady increase in vaccine availability, although that is likely contingent on the Moderna vaccine's approval, which could come as early as this week.

Fischback said, "We could receive a similar shipment next week, but we would also anticipate that that number could grow as more vaccines come on-line and that production capacity is ramped up by those manufacturers."

CWH will begin vaccinating high-risk healthcare workers starting Thursday.

"What we anticipate is, as a site that has been designated to receive this vaccine, we are going to serve our healthcare workers of course, but also others in our immediate geography that stand to benefit the most from this early wave of vaccine," continued Fischback.

Eventually, CWH will work with the Chelan/Douglas Health District to reach out to places like long term care facilities and encourage them to sign up as a provider site so those that are high risk, as well as staff, can be vaccinated.

According to the Department of Health, Washington State could receive 150,000 to 350,000 total doses in the first month of distribution, with 500,000 to 1 million doses the following month.