April 14, 2021
COVID-19 Updates from Skagit County
Vaccine Availability at the Fairgrounds
Skagit County Public Health provides weekly vaccine appointment updates on Fridays at 12:00 p.m. on the website: www.skagitcounty.net/COVIDvaccine. New appointments may be added throughout the week depending on availability. For assistance, call our Vaccine Hotline at (360) 416-1500.
Vaccine Eligibility Update
On Thursday, April 15, all Washingtonians 16 years of age and older are able to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. To make an appointment, go to: https://vaccinelocator.doh.wa.gov/.
For minors (16-17 years of age), please note the following:
- Currently, the Pfizer vaccine is the only COVID-19 vaccine authorized for people 16+.
- Those ages 16-17 will need consent from a parent or guardian to get the vaccine, unless they are legally emancipated. If making an appointment at the Skagit County Fairgrounds, verbal consent by a parent/guardian will be required at the time of the appointment. This can be done either in person or over the phone.
Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Pause
On April 13, the Food and Drug Administration recommended that providers pause use of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine, following reports of six patients developing a rare blood clot disorder after receiving the injection. Washington State Department of Health, following the recommendation, has asked providers to pause use of the J&J vaccine until further notice. For more information, read our press release here.
For those who received the J&J vaccine more than a month ago, the risk of developing this disorder is very low. People who have received the J&J vaccine who develop severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks after vaccination should contact their health care provider.
Skagit County Remains in Phase 3 of Roadmap to Recovery
On April 9, Governor Inslee updated and clarified the criteria for counties to stay in Phase 3; including that in order to move down one phase, a county must fail both metrics for case counts and hospitalizations. Under the previous plan, a county only needed to fail one metric to move back one phase. Based on our population size, these metrics include:
- <200 new cases per 100,000 population per 14 days; and
- <5 new COVID-19 hospitalizations per 100,000 population per 7 days.
Skagit County will remain in Phase 3 of the Roadmap to Recovery, based on our current COVID-19 case count and hospital data. County data will be reevaluated by the state in three weeks.
COVID-19 Case Counts rising in Skagit
Case numbers in Skagit County have continued to rise over the past two weeks, with daily case counts repeatedly in the double digits. Multiple daily case numbers in the 20s will cause Skagit County to exceed the metric of <200 new cases per 100,000 population per 14 days.
Exceeding this metric would result in Skagit County moving back to Phase 2 of reopening. While it is not guaranteed that Skagit County will move backward on May 3, our rising numbers are not showing promise at this time.
Please continue to use precautions: wear your mask, limit social gatherings, keep a 6-foot distance, and get vaccinated when you can. Let’s continue to move forward, not back.
To read what is allowable under each phase, visit here.
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