Pierce County Announces Plans For Mass Vaccination Sites

PIERCE COUNTY, WA — Pierce County leaders want to dramatically speed up COVID-19 vaccinations, and they've got a plan that they say can do it.

Friday, the county announced a proposal to create three "mass vaccination sites" alongside a mobile vaccination program. Ideally the sites, devised by the Pierce County Department of Emergency Management, would be up and running by the end of January, or by the time the vaccine is more broadly available.

“It’s taken too long for our residents to get COVID vaccinations, so we are implementing a local plan to get this done,” said Pierce County Executive Bruce Dammeier.

Currently, the vaccine is only available for workers in health care settings and for residents of long-term care facilities, but on Wednesday, top state officials announced that Washington would be moving into the next phase of vaccine distribution soon. That phase, Phase 1B1, allows for vaccinations for anyone 70 years old or older, or those 50 years old or older and live in multigenerational households.

According to the state's official timeline, the next phase after that is unlikely to begin until February, after Pierce County has already established the mass vaccination sites.

Pierce County says that, based on census data and early planning results, their vaccination sites could administer 4,600 vaccines a day, or 700,000 doses of the vaccine over 7 months. Because each vaccine requires two doses, a total 350,000 Pierce County residents could be inoculated in that time. The census estimates that Pierce County has a population of 904,980, meaning this program could vaccinate more than 38 percent of county residents.

That 38 percent would come in addition to regular vaccine distribution performed by pharmacies and healthcare providers, giving the county a significant boost towards the end goal of herd immunity. Herd immunity requires that 70 percent of area residents be vaccinated.

“Getting vaccines into arms as efficiently as possible is our top priority,” said Pierce County Council Chair Derek Young. “Creating this plan now and providing easy to access locations for people to get vaccinated across the county will reduce life-altering injuries and ultimately save lives.”

The location for the three mass vaccination sites is still being determined. Officials say they're weighing several options, which will be selected based on accessibility, equity and geographic diversity.

The program will also create up to eight mobile vaccination sites and vaccine administration drop teams. The mobile vaccination sites would help residents of more rural areas who cannot travel to the three main sites, and drop teams could administer on site vaccinations for assisted living facilities and other priority groups.

In total, the program would cost an estimated $4 million, which supporters say they expect would be reimbursed by the state or federal government. The Pierce County Council will debate the vaccination site proposal at their upcoming meeting on Jan. 19.

King County had previously announced a similar program. Theirs is a $7 million investment to create two vaccination sites in southern King County, with the main difference being that their program guarantees free vaccination.