SAN FRANCISCO, March 22 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Washington state's Yakima Valley has been selected for a six-week federal mass vaccination program that will use fixed and mobile operations to administer more than 1,000 doses a day, according to an announcement by Governor Jay Inslee on Monday.
The White House announced Monday morning the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had approved the application from the state and the Yakima County Health District.
This joint effort will include a fixed, drive-thru vaccination site at Central Washington State Fair Park as well as mobile vaccination units. Through this partnership, vaccination capacity at this location will expand from approximately 200 vaccines per day to 1,200 vaccines per day between the fixed, drive-thru site and mobile units.
"We are so appreciative to FEMA and our other federal partners for working with the state to make significant additional resources available to the people of the Yakima Valley," said Inslee. "This will be a tremendous boost to our vaccine equity efforts and will also reach out directly to Washingtonians who don't have the means of transportation to a fixed vaccination site."
Communities in Yakima County have been particularly hard-hit throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, with disproportionately high infection and hospitalization rates compared to the rest of Washington and the region. Nearly 20 percent of Yakima residents live below the poverty line. People from racial and ethnic minority groups have accounted for approximately 50 percent of the county's COVID-19 cases.
The Yakima County program will open on March 31. Enditem