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Storm delays force mass vaccination sites to close

KING COUNTY, Wash. — King County closed down its mass vaccination sites early due to a lack of vaccine.

The vaccination clinic at Showare Center in Kent closed at 4 p.m. on Friday. The appointments in Kent and Auburn on Saturday and Monday will be rescheduled. King County says it will contact patients to reschedule.

Public Health says affected patients will be called in the next three days, and appointments will be rescheduled for the week of March 1.

The Washington State Department of Health had to shut down mass vaccination sites in other parts of the state.

Even Gov. Jay Inslee’s second dose was in doubt. “Apparently my dose is at the Memphis Airport,” said Inslee on Thursday. On Friday, Inslee confirmed he and his wife did get their second doses.

The state said 90% of the vaccine expected this week was delayed. The freeze shut down major hubs for FedEx and UPS.

Storm delays didn’t get in the way of plans to vaccinate older adults in the Latinx community on Thursday. The three-day pop-up clinic, organized by the City of Seattle with community partners, will vaccine 750 people. The mayor’s office confirmed they do have enough vaccine to finish up on Sunday.

“I feel fine. I don’t have hurt, I don’t have symptoms,” said Marta Lopez after getting vaccinated.

Jose Roa took a selfie when he got the shot. “For my records, for my memories,” said Roa. “Everyone is waiting for this moment.”

Due to the delays, the state will have twice as much vaccine. Dr. Jeff Duchin of Public Health Seattle and King County does not expect it will overwhelm providers, as he says they have plenty of capacity.

“The fact the vaccine allocations have not been extremely large, doubling them is a manageable number for us,” said Duchin on Friday.