OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — State health authorities are telling hospitals and other COVID-19 vaccine providers not to provide special access to people or risk having their supplies of doses cut.
The Department of Health said Monday that “VIP scheduling, reserving doses for inequitable or exclusive access, and similar practices are banned and will not be tolerated.”
The Seattle Times has reported that three medical systems in the region gave special vaccine access to big donors or foundation members.
Hospital officials have said they were testing scheduling software or trying to fill vaccine appointments quickly by using familiar contacts.
Locally, for the week ending Sunday, the state health department has so far reported nine new Whatcom County COVID-19 hospitalizations as the curve on that metric appears to be flattening.
For the month of January, 8 Whatcom County deaths were attributed to COVID-19 on 2064 first- time positive virus tests, for a January death rate of 0.4%.