Lewis County Works to Boost COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence

Shots: County Vaccine Rate Lags Behind State

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Public health officials say COVID-19 case and hospitalization rates are increasing in Lewis County. According to Public Health Deputy Director John Abplanalp, the county is edging closer to two new hospitalizations per day. And as the county’s vaccination rate lags behind the state, officials are working to boost confidence in the vaccines among locals.

In a Tuesday update, Lewis County’s primary health officer Dr. Steven Krager encouraged residents to talk with their trusted physicians if they have questions about the vaccine, noting that “there’s still a good chunk” of high-risk residents who have yet to get the shot.

“I just want to acknowledge, too, that I understand some people's reluctance to get vaccinated,” Krager said. “Just to be frank, I had my own reservations last year with what was happening with vaccines. And obviously I changed my mind. I just received my second vaccine last week.”

Krager specifically addressed the common question of whether vaccinated people can still become asymptomatic spreaders.

“The data we have now, that we’ve had for two to three months now, is that (the vaccine) protects you from both types of infection, so getting symptoms with COVID-19 as well as being infected with COVID-19 and being asymptomatic,” he said.

Krager also acknowledged some locals’ fears that the vaccine is “experimental,” saying the term “emergency use authorization” probably exacerbated those feelings.

But, pointing to the tens of thousands of people enrolled in vaccine trials and the millions of people who have received a dose, Krager said “they’re incredibly safe and effective.”

“It’s using our immune system in a very similar way that other vaccines work,” he added.

County Commissioner Lindsey Pollock, who also serves on the local board of health, pointed to the years of research that laid the groundwork for the new COVID-19 vaccines.

“So it’s not quite as rapid, I think, as people think it is,” Pollock said. “This has actually had decades that work has been done on the immunology of this virus.”



In addition to pointing residents to their trusted physicians, county officials have launched a new “why I got vaccinated” video campaign in which community members will discuss their personal decision to get vaccinated against the respiratory illness.

According to Public Health Director JP Anderson, the idea came from the county’s schools workgroup, which includes local pediatricians and superintendents working to safely reopen schools.

“We’ll also invite the community, if they want to share a story of why they're getting vaccinated or how they came to that decision,” Anderson said, adding that the issue of vaccines can seem far-off, but is a “very real and local issue.”

“We know there are still a lot of (different ways) this could go in the next year or so based on our vaccination rates, and know that our health outcomes in the community will reflect that,” Anderson said.

The county’s first video came out this week and features Chehalis Superintendent Christine Moloney.

“I encourage each and every one of you to go get vaccinated if you are able,” she said. “We want to come together as a community, keep our schools open, our community thriving and all of us being able to see each other in a normal setting.”

Lewis County continues to host drive-through and walk-through clinics as well as smaller, community-organized clinics. Officials announced last month that they would set up small vaccine clinics wherever residents could scrounge up 20 people looking to get a shot.

“We might even take a call of a group of 10 people at this point,” Anderson said Monday.