Indoor vaccination commences at Boeing Activity Center

EVERETT — The Boeing Activity Center is now home to Snohomish County’s first indoor mass COVID-19 vaccine clinic. When there’s enough supply, it has the capacity to administer 300 shots per hour and 10,000 per week.

Located at 6400 36th Ave. W in Everett, it is the county’s fourth mass vaccination site.

Vaccinations are available by appointment only.

Operations at the Paine Field site have been suspended and relocated to the Boeing site. People who received their first dose at the Paine Field site will get their second dose at the Boeing site.

Currently, the only people eligible for a shot are all people 65 and older, health care workers, high-risk first responders, residents and staff of long-term care homes and anybody 50 and up who lives in a multi-generational home. Those eligible are instructed to first contact their primary care doctor, clinic or pharmacy to try to schedule an appointment.

As of Wednesday afternoon, vaccine appointments could not be scheduled at any of of the county’s mass vaccination sites because of insufficient vaccine supply. The number of county residents who are eligible to get vaccinated far exceeds the number of doses currently available, and appointments are filled within hours of being posted.

Appointment availability will open up again when more doses become available.

Those eligible are instructed to check back at the county health district website at www.snohd.org/covidvaccine. When appointments are available, they can be scheduled on that website.

Those with no internet access, or who need language support, can call 425-339-5278 to schedule an appointment.

Information on which vaccine is administered at each location is noted online with the registration links. Patients should save the vaccination card they are given when they receive their first dose, and they are instructed to take a photo on their phone in case the card is lost or damaged. They should receive two doses of the Moderna vaccine about 28 days apart. The second dose should be as close to the recommended interval as possible but may be up to six weeks after the first. Even if the second dose is delayed somewhat beyond that, the first dose does not need to be repeated.

The Moderna vaccine is being administered at the Boeing site by nurses with the Seattle Visiting Nurse Association.

There are approximately 250 parking spaces available for use at the site parking lot. Boeing staff are directing traffic and asking drivers to confirm their appointment times before proceeding to park in the lot.

There are plans for up to three additional mass vaccination sites in the county, according to a Snohomish County press release.

The county also is moving forward with mobile vaccination clinics. This week, EMS staff with the Snohomish County Fire Taskforce began administering vaccines at adult family homes. On Monday, they vaccinated 88 staff and residents at 16 adult family homes as well as 203 staff and residents with the Everett Housing Authority. By the end of the week, they plan to administer vaccines at 35 more adult family homes and to vaccinate approximately 200 more residents at Everett Housing Authority properties.

Even after being vaccinated, people should continue to wear a mask in shared spaces, avoid large gatherings, stay home if they feel ill, wash their hands, and clean and sanitize surfaces. It is important to keep up preventive measures while work continues to vaccinate more people.

In total, more than 53,000 county residents have received their first shot of the vaccine so far, while another 8,400 have received both doses.

“It will take a tremendous amount of work to vaccinate everyone in our community who wants to be vaccinated,” Shawn Frederick, administrative officer of the Snohomish Health District, said in a news release. “Our ability to get it done is greatly improved by partners like Boeing. The Snohomish County Vaccine Taskforce looks forward to more opportunities to work with industry leaders in our community on safe, efficient access to vaccination.”

Herald reporter Ellen Dennis: ellen.dennis@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @reporterellen.