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By Drew Lawson
The Times 

McMorris Rodgers petitions Inslee to improve rural vaccine disbursement

Lincoln County received no new doses again this week

 

Last updated 2/11/2021 at 3:25pm



DAVENPORT – 5th Congressional District Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers is calling on Gov. Jay Inslee to boost vaccine distribution in largely abandoned rural counties. She wrote the governor a letter dated Feb. 5 urging improved dosage divvying in counties like Lincoln.

“Rural areas are at a disadvantage when it comes to health care access and infrastructure. We have a shared commitment of working to help set these communities up for success,” McMorris Rodgers wrote in the letter. “I urge your administration to avoid a one-size-fits-all approach to vaccine distribution, and to continue to provide certain priority population tiering flexibilities, so that health care providers can expeditiously administer the vaccine and avoid wastage.”

Last week, Inslee touted the 700,000 vaccine doses distributed statewide, but just 1,700 of those doses have been disbursed in Lincoln County.


To compound the limited allotment here, Lincoln County Health Department received a goose egg in total new doses for the second week in a row. This week, the hospitals also didn’t receive any new doses.

“And we won’t hear if we’re getting any new doses next week until Friday or Saturday,” health department public administrator Ed Dzedzy said.

The county is now out of first doses, so until more doses arrive, no one can receive their first dose here. The only capabilities the health department and hospitals have is disbursing the second dose of the Moderna vaccine. Dzedzy said people eligible for their second dose are being contacted now.


But progression of vaccination here has stalled despite the governor’s touting of distribution success statewide.

“We’re not alone in that…many rural counties haven’t received doses,” Dzedzy said. “It’s frustrating…we’re all just sitting around waiting to vaccinate our communities, but we don’t have the vaccine to do it.”

McMorris Rodgers’ letter urged Inslee to include rural health leaders, like Dzedzy, in vaccine distribution planning.

“I would further ask that your administration utilize the local population knowledge of our health care workers, and encourage you to use local health officials, providers and other stakeholders in the decision-making process,” the letter reads. “Please provide clear and concise methodology for your administration’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution and allocation plans.”

Author Bio

Drew Lawson, Editor

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Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.

 

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