The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

The number of covid-19 cases reported by the Washington Department of Health (DOH) has risen by five in Wahkiakum County over the last week for a cumulative total of 572. Wahkiakum Health and Human Services (WHHS) Director Chris Bischoff said that including data from last week, there would be approximately 13 active cases in the county.

Another hospitalization was reported by DOH as well, bringing the county total to 37. There have been seven deaths attributed to the virus.

Disclaimer: With the easy accessibility of at home tests, the actual number of active covid-19 cases and actual cumulative numbers in the county, are hard to know.

“Cases are still very high in Washington,” Bischoff said, “and are on the rise in much of the country. Hospitalizations are also increasing. Omicron subvariants continue to get easier and easier to spread. The most dominant subvariant now is BA.5, which is the easiest spreading subvariant to this point."

According to DOH, 68.6 percent of the total population of Washington state has completed the primary series of vaccinations, while only 51 percent of the total population of Wahkiakum County has competed the primary series of vaccinations.

The Pfizer vaccine, including a second booster, is available for anyone six months and older at the WHHS vaccine clinic on Mondays and Wednesdays, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30-3 p.m. Call 360-849-4041 for more information.

The Moderna vaccine, including a second booster, is available at the Cathlamet Pharmacy. Call 360-795-3691.

“A U.S. Food and Drug Administration expert panel recently advised that vaccine manufacturers reformulate their covid-19 boosters for the fall to include the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants specifically,” Bischoff said. "Both Pfizer and Moderna had been preparing boosters that would target omicron overall, but the panel recommended that they instead be more specific to target those two subvariants of omicron. The boosters would potentially target a mix of the original strain, omicron generically, and the two omicron subvariants specifically.”