The first shipment of COVID-19 vaccine arrived at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle this week.
As of Monday (June 14), 46.68% of Okanogan County’s total population had at least one dose of the vaccine and 42.3% was fully vaccinated. Of the county’s population of residents over 16 years old, 58.69% had initiated vaccination and 53.18% were totally vaccinated.
Statewide, 51.56% of the population has initiated vaccination and 45.47% are fully vaccinated.
More than 7.3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in the state. The state’s seven-day average for vaccine doses is 26,891 per day. In Okanogan County, 36,655 doses have been given.
Family Health Centers has given more than 10,000 vaccinations so far, said Julie Wehmeyer, employee health and infection control manager at Family Health Centers. More than 3,100 of those have been vaccines for agriculture workers.
Lottery scam
Shortly after Washington’s “Shot of a Lifetime” lottery — intended to encourage people to get the COVID-19 vaccine — gave out its first batch of prizes, the state Attorney General’s Office and Washington’s Lottery are warning residents of scams associated with the program.
The program’s drawings are held on Tuesdays through July 13 and include prizes of $250,000 and $1 million in cash, plus sporting event tickets, tuition credits and others. Vaccinated residents in the state’s Immunization Information System are automatically entered.
The Auditor’s Office has already received reports of attempted scams, according to a news release sent out this week.
The state Lottery will call drawing winners, but will never ask for bank information or social security information over the phone. Some winners may be contacted by email or text message. If a person doesn’t answer, the representative will leave a detailed message. They will ask for a home address and email to send an official prize claim form. Calls will come from 253 or 564 area codes.
Winners have 72 hours to claim a prize.
To verify a call, voicemail, email or text purporting to be from the Lottery, contact Washington’s Lottery at (360) 810-2888.
To report being the victim of a scam, call the Attorney General’s Office at 1-800-551-4636 or email atg.wa.gov/file-complaint.
Where to go
For more information about where and when to get vaccinated, go to Https://okanogancountycovid19.org/covid-19-vaccine.
