Updated: 1A COVID vaccine event set for Friday at CMC

Coulee Medical Center will host a drive-through vaccination event Friday, injecting arms to inoculate the first tier of people prioritized to get the shots.

Friday’s event will inoculate people in the top 1A tier, including those who work in high-risk health care settings, first responders, residents and staff of nursing homes.

People in the 1B category may not be inoculated Friday, Ramona Hicks, chief executive officer at CMC clarified Wednesday afternoon. The 1Bs include people who are generally at high to moderate risk, including anyone 70 and older, or 50 and older if they live in a multigenerational household. An earlier version of this story had said 1Bs could sign up on a standby list for Friday's event, but rules preventing that have not changed yet.

The drive-through clinic will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday in CMC’s parking lot.

Samaritan Health Care personnel from Moses Lake are coming to help with the process Friday, Hicks said.

People in the 1A category must call 509-764-3335 to get on the schedule, then drive up at their reserved time. There’s a form to download and fill out at the cmccares.org, where you can also check on your eligibility.

Hicks said Thursday that at this point CMC can only put you on a list to get a shot when your tier is up for vaccination. Call CMC at 509-633-1753 to do that. An earlier version of this story indicated getting on that list could allow people the possibility of getting vaccinated earlier, which is not the case, Hicks said Thursday.

Still, people who do notify the hospital they want a vaccine will be notified when they are eligible, Hicks said. That will help in planning for vaccination clinics by aiding in the estimation of the number of vials needed.

Once a vial is punctured with a needle, it can’t be saved for later, so if there’s some left over, anyone available and ready can sometimes get a shot.

That’s the way Grant County Health District Administrator Theresa Adkinson got her shot last week in Moses Lake, she told a group of county leaders on a Zoom call Jan. 6.

That agency is hoping to help CMC acquire a new freezer for vaccine storage with federal relief grant money, Hicks said. CMC learned three days after accepting delivery last month of 1,000 shots worth of vaccine that their storage equipment was not approved after all. They had to send 1,000 shots back, Hicks said, and it will be destroyed.

The short shelf life is the reason you need to schedule your shot. “We need to know who’s coming, when,” Hicks said.