Greetings to our HCAW members,
We have been working with local and state agencies to advocate for In Home Services agencies to get access to one of the COVID vaccines. What we have learned is that, despite very good intentions, Local Health Jurisdictions (LHJ) don't have a good read on our industry but are very willing to learn. We have met with both King County and Spokane County Health Districts over the past two days to advocate on your behalf. There are 39 LHJ in the state and they all operate independently of one another. Due to the differences in each LHJ we cannot speak to the process in your specific county. Our best advice today is to call your LHJ for your county and ask for their guidance regarding how to get your staff vaccinated if they elect to do so. Be persistent and be prepared to explain what you do for your patients.
We learned yesterday that the state will be launching a site called PhaseFinder. This is an on-line tool that asks you to answer various questions and then confirms which phase you are in. This is for individuals seeking the vaccine whom you employee. Be advised this is not fully functional yet. Full launch is scheduled for January 18, 2021 barring unforeseen issues.
Once you access that site and proceed through the questions you will get a notice at the end confirming which Phase you are in. We anticipate all front line patient care staff are in Phase 1.a. You are asked to print the confirmation page and keep that along with some way to vouch that you work in health care (letter from employer, name tag, etc). Next you should be taken to a link that should show you where you can get scheduled for the vaccine and sign up there.
Link to information about finding COVID vaccine:
Link to Phase Finder:
A recent TVW presentation by our new health officer and others at DOH can be accessed here -
Update from DOH on COVID vaccine plan:
DOH has issued an updated Phase 1.a. ONLY document that reviews who is in this Phase -
Link to DOH Phase 1.a only:
More information can be found at the DOH COVID web site -
Link to DOH COVID vaccine information:
Additional COVID Vaccine Phase dates are listed here:
