Thanks to the reader who told us today that they had received a notice that their child’s vaccine appointment at the city’s West Seattle clinic this weekend was canceled because there was no “pediatric provider.” Instead, they were offered an appointment at the city’s downtown clinic.
This turns out to be related to what we reported last Friday, that Seattle Fire had taken over the clinic from original provider Pliable, which hadn’t reached an agreement with the city for continued operation. At the time the city didn’t mention the resulting gap in pediatric coverage. So after the tip today, we asked Anthony Derrick, the program’s spokesperson in the mayor’s office, what was going on. He responded that “SFD crews are currently not administering the pediatric vaccine because the dosage procedure is different than other vaccines or boosters and would require additional training.” He added, “We are working to identify an alternate provider who can step in to assist with pediatric vaccines at our West Seattle clinic.” The city is still offering pediatric vaccinations at the downtown and Rainier Beach clinics, Derrick says, adding that at the latter, “more appointment slots will be added in the coming days.”
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