The county completed a successful trial run of vaccine distribution at the Kittitas Valley Events Center Tuesday, administering vaccines to 40 patients that fell within the B1 tier. The tier includes all people 70 years or older, as well as all people 50 years or older who reside in multigenerational households.
PROGRESS AND HOPE
CHCW Physician Dr. Kevin Walsh was on site during Tuesday’s trial run and was encouraged by the success of the transition into the new tier of recipients. After reviewing studies on both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, he said he is comfortable with safety and effectiveness of both products.
“I’m hoping that as I counsel patients, I can communicate my own trust in the vaccine and recommend strongly that patients get the vaccine,” he said.
Walsh said he appreciates the equity that has come from the developed tier system, and said he was encouraged by the opportunity for CHCW, KCPHD and KVH to successfully collaborate during Tuesday’s event. He said Tuesday was the first chance for the organizations to collaborate, as they had functioned individually in vaccine distribution for their own employees prior to the event. From an organizational standpoint, he said the event ran as smoothly as could possibly be expected, helping to set a precedent for future distribution.
“People came in, were registered and vaccinated in just a few minutes,” he said. “I think we are very fortunate that we are a small enough county that most of the people working in the service agencies know each other and would feel comfortable reaching out to people in another agency if things were not going well. Community Health has been a part of the Kittitas County Health Network since its inception, and we feel strongly that collaboration among agencies will allow all of us to offer a higher quality of service to our neighbors in this county.”
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