SPOKANE, Wash. – In the fight to contain the coronavirus, health experts said the best weapon against the disease is vaccination but Eastern Washington is lagging behind Western Washington on the rate of people with shots. The Spokane Regional Health District said there are two main reasons.
Spokane County is the largest county east of the Cascades and when comparing it to the largest county west of the Cascades, the percentage of people with at least one COVID-19 shot is down by 20%, according to the Department of Health.
King County
Vax Initiation: 65%Fully Vaxxed: 43%
Spokane County
Vax Initiation: 45%Fully Vaxxed: 33%
Averaging the vaccination rates between the two sides of the states makes the difference less drastic.
Eastern Washington’s vaccine initiation rate is 11% lower with the fully vaccinated population down 9%.
Western Washington Vaccine Average
Vax Initiation: 48%Fully Vaxxed: 39%
Eastern Washington Vaccine Average
Vax Initiation: 37%Fully Vaxxed: 30%
According to the Spokane Regional Health District, one of the reasons for static vaccine rates is due to Spokane’s population rate.
“We have a higher percentage of people 18 years old and younger here versus over in King County,” SRHD Public Information Officer Cindy Thompson said.
According to the U.S. Census, 22% of Spokane County’s population is under 18-years-old.
“For our population here, we know that there seems to be a lack of sense of urgency to get vaccinated,” Thompson said. “There is a feeling of when they are ready to get the vaccine, they’ll get it.”
Thompson said SRHD is working to bring vaccines to the rural parts of the community through hosting smaller clinics at places like fire stations.
“It’s on a smaller scale so naturally, it will take longer to get people vaccinated,” Thompson said.
Washington residents who get vaccinated in other states will also not be counted toward the state vaccination rate unless they self-report their vaccine.
Last week, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare opened vaccine appointments to anyone despite residency or place of work.
“Unless they come back and have their provider enter that information into the state’s immunization registry we don’t know how many people have been vaccinated out of state,” Thompson said.
Vaccine appointments in Washington can be made on VaccineLocator.doh.wa.gov.
