Benton County COVID-19 vaccination site begins distribution

KENNEWICK, Wash.-- Hundreds of cars slowly drove into the gravel parking lot at the Benton County Fairgrounds in Kennewick Monday morning.

The gates opened at 10:00 a.m., as residents from around the region hoped they would receive one of the 500 doses of COVID-19 vaccine that the site had received for distribution.

Within an hour, there were already 500 people who were confirmed to be eligible for the vaccine, and the gates were closed.

Monday was the first day that the new vaccination site was in operation. The Washington National Guard, local law enforcement and fire agencies, the Benton Franklin Health District, and a regional Type 3 Incident Management Team all worked through the weekend to erect tents, establish protocols, and coordinate with the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) to ensure that the vaccine doses would arrive on time.

Local officials didn't learn about the state's plans to use the fairgrounds in Kennewick as a vaccination site until Gov. Jay Inslee made the announcement last Monday. And while the state didn't coordinate with local agencies when making the initial decision to set up the site, it was primarily local organizations that were responsible for setting up the location and preparing to provide the vaccines.

After the initial start-up on Monday, the location will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Tuesday.

While the DOH announced that appointments are required in order to obtain a vaccine, local officials say that is not the case at this time, but that could change in the future.

"There are no appointments," said Ben Shearer, spokesperson for the Type 3 Incident Management Team helping with the site set-up. "It is first come, first served. There is no overnight camping--- the gates will open at 8:00 a.m. If you don't have the certificate stating that you're eligible to receive the vaccine, you'll need to do that here while you're waiting."

Click HERE to find out if you're eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine

Portable toilets are available. There are no food or beverage vendors on site, so if you can't go several hours without food or water, you'll want to bring some items from home.