The Department of Health has warned that first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will be limited next week in Washington, as some providers are trying to play catch-up with their second doses.

After Gov. Jay Inslee announced that providers must administer at least 95% of their vaccine supply within seven days of receiving it, some providers used what they had intended to set aside for second doses and instead administered the shots as first doses.

Now, those providers are playing catch-up as the second-shot demand comes due.

The Department of Health is prioritizing doses next week to remedy this discrepancy, to ensure that providers can offer a second dose to those who have already received their first shot.

The Department of Health still was determining how many first doses will be available for next week, but the prioritization will go to finishing vaccines in long-term care facilities, adult family homes and some mass vaccination sites.

Spokane County’s mass vaccination site will receive some first doses next week, and appointments will open up at 5 p.m. Tuesday online.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also announced it is delaying vaccine delivery until Tuesday due to weather concerns.

Washington is still firmly in Phase 1B Tier 1 of vaccinations, which means frontline health care workers and residents 65 and older or people 50 and older who live in multigenerational households are eligible for the vaccine. There are more than 1 million people eligible to be vaccinated in the current phase, and with current dose projections, it will take several more weeks to get everyone fully vaccinated in that group.

On Friday, the state hit a milestone of 1 million doses of vaccine administered.

Both Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines require two doses, which is a part of why the supply is so limited.

Doses being shared across stateThe Department of Health has asked local health jurisdictions and providers that have completed the current vaccination phase to alert the department so officials can transfer extra doses to another part of the state where eligible people still need to be vaccinated.

Health officials are attempting to distribute the vaccines fairly across the state using the eligibility guidelines.

“We don’t want counties moving to the next phases earlier than others,” Secretary of Health Dr. Umair Shah said earlier this year.

So far, Whitman County is the only county that has had to release doses for use in other counties, although local providers are still continuing efforts to vaccinate eligible people in that county. Pullman Regional Hospital is holding a vaccination clinic Saturday, including eligible residents receiving their first doses and those receiving second doses.

Initially, the hospital scheduled shots out to mid-March based on older vaccine allotment predictions, but the team there rescheduled everyone for February slots when more doses became available.

“The supply has been unreliable, so it’s really impressive that Whitman County has been so responsive and so flexible,” said Alison Weigley, director of external relations at Pullman Regional.

Whitman County has been so effective at distributing vaccines that plans to start vaccinating teachers were in the works when the governor’s office called to halt those plans, KHQ reported.

Smaller counties and rural regions might finish vaccinating eligible residents in the coming weeks and then have to wait while larger regions catch up.

In northeastern Washington, Matt Schanz, health administrator at the Northeast Tri County Health District, said there are about 2,900 eligible residents in Pend Oreille and Stevens counties who have yet to be vaccinated.

Ferry County, however, could be getting close to completing the current phase. Providers in northeastern Washington have not yet had to send doses elsewhere.

“That will be an emerging issue in the coming weeks, to be sure,” Schanz said.

Here’s a look at local numbers:The Spokane Regional Health District confirmed 149 new cases Friday, in addition to two new deaths from COVID-19. There have been 546 COVID-19-related deaths in Spokane County.

There are 57 people hospitalized with the virus.

The Panhandle Health District confirmed 61 new cases of COVID-19 Friday and one additional death.

There are 27 Panhandle residents hospitalized with the virus.