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COVID-19

Safeway partnering with Department of Health to run Spokane Arena mass vaccination site

Safeway will officially join the Washington Department of Health and the National Guard next week to staff the mass vaccination clinic at the Spokane Arena.

The site continues to focus on second doses of the Moderna vaccine for those who got their first dose there last month.

State health officials said dose levels remain flat at the site due to overall supplies being lower than what each site or distributor can handle statewide.

“Each of those (mass vaccination) sites have the capacity to administer about 1,500 doses a day, and oftentimes, we’re seeing supply challenges,” SheAnne Allen, COVID-19 vaccine director at the Department of Health, told reporters Thursday.

The Spokane Arena site will continue to focus on second-dose appointments for the next two weeks, according to the Department of Health.

As of Friday, no new first-dose appointments are open at the Spokane Arena. The department hopes that some new appointments might open up late next week.

Safeway is officially joining the site on Tuesday, and will also assist in registration efforts going forward. Safeway staff will be on site at the Arena to handle data entry and vaccine administration.

Washington is projected to receive more vaccine doses in the coming weeks as allocations escalate. Next week, the state is projected to receive 309,770 total doses, which includes first and second doses of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.

By the week of March 21, the state is projected to receive 327,320 doses.

Despite the escalation in doses, demand is still outpacing supply, with providers asking for 100,000 more doses than the state is scheduled to receive next week.

Meanwhile, more chances to get vaccinated are popping up for limited groups.

Local veterans might have an opportunity to receive the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine starting on Saturday at Mann-Grandstaff Medical Center. The medical center received a limited supply of the new single-dose shots this week, but also has Moderna vaccines for eligible veterans .

Veterans must have an appointment to get vaccinated. To get up-to-date information about the vaccine, eligible veterans can call (509) 434-7979.

In Idaho, residents who live in the Panhandle and are eligible for the vaccine can access appointments at several locations throughout the five counties. Northwest Specialty Hospital in Post Falls received doses of the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine this week and has appointments open as well.

Here’s a look at local numbersThe Spokane Regional Health District confirmed 47 new COVID-19 cases on Friday and one additional death.

There have been 587 confirmed deaths due to COVID-19 in Spokane County residents.

There are 51 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Spokane.

The Panhandle Health District confirmed seven new cases on Friday.

There are 23 Panhandle residents hospitalized with the virus.

Arielle Dreher's reporting for The Spokesman-Review is primarily funded by the Smith-Barbieri Progressive Fund, with additional support from Report for America and members of the Spokane community. These stories can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper’s managing editor.