Washington to receive more than 200,000 vaccine doses each week for the next 3 weeks

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Washington will receive more than 200,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine each week for the next three weeks.

In late January, the Biden Administration announced it would boost vaccine supply and provide better communication about allocation with states. During a news conference Thursday, Governor Jay Inslee said the state will now receive a three-week notice regarding its allocation from the federal government.

The federal government has promised the following to Washington in the coming weeks:

• Week of February 7: 207,000 doses
• Week of February 14: 206,125 doses
• Week of February 21: 240,620 doses

The state has a goal of vaccinating 45,000 people a day. Inslee said the infrastucture to achieve that goal is in place, the only issue is that the state does not have the doses it needs. He did add that improvements have been made in the past few weeks that have increased the number of doses administered and reduced the amount of wasted vaccine.

However, several providers were not given vaccine this week. In a news conference Thursday morning, the Department of Health said they reduced shipments to 39 providers across the state because they were not using 95 percent of their doses within one week of receiving them, which is required under Inslee’s vaccine plan. Those doses were not wasted, but instead sent to sites that could use them immediately.

The issue simply boils down to logistics. Up until now, the state has not known the number of doses it would receive each week. As a result, providers have been unable to plan and book appointments in order to get those shots administered.

The state hopes that having at least a three-week heads up will allow providers to better plan and get shots into arms.

RELATED: Washington Dept. of Health to vaccine providers: Use your doses or we’ll send them elsewhere