‘We have the will’ but more COVID vaccines needed, Whatcom health says, urging patience

Washington state may have expanded its list of who can get the COVID-19 vaccine — in what’s known as Phase 1B, which includes the elderly, teachers and agriculture workers — but that doesn’t mean it’s available to all Whatcom County residents in those groups yet.

That has the Whatcom County Health Department, as well as state leaders, asking for patience amid a vaccine roll-out that has been slower than expected and bumpy.

“We have the will, the fire, and the ability to get everyone in Whatcom vaccinated, but we don’t have the vaccines,” said Cindy Hollinsworth, Communicable Disease manager for the Whatcom County Health Department, in a news release on Monday night, Jan. 18.