Safeway is working with the Department of Health to operate the mass vaccination center in the Spokane Arena

Safeway will officially join the Washington Department of Health and National Guard next week to occupy the Spokane Arena mass vaccination clinic.

The website continues to focus on second doses of the Moderna vaccine for those who received their first dose there in the last month.

State health officials said dose levels at the site will remain unchanged as total coverage is lower than what any site or dealer nationwide can handle.

“Each of these (mass vaccination) sites can deliver around 1,500 doses a day, and we often see supply issues,” SheAnne Allen, COVID-19 vaccine director at the Department of Health, told reporters Thursday.

The Spokane Arena location will continue to focus on appointments for the second dose for the next two weeks, according to the Department of Health.

As of Friday, there will be no new first dose appointments open at the Spokane Arena. The department hopes to open some new dates by the end of next week.

Safeway will officially join the website on Tuesday and will continue to assist with future registration efforts. Safeway staff will be on site in the arena to take care of data entry and vaccine administration.

Washington is expected to receive more vaccine doses in the coming weeks as allocations escalate. Next week, the state is expected to receive 309,770 total doses, including first and second doses of Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.

By the week of March 21, the state is expected to receive 327,320 doses.

Despite the escalation of the doses, demand is still outstripping supply. The providers are demanding 100,000 more cans than the state should receive next week.

In the meantime, there are more chances of getting vaccinated for limited groups.

Local veterans may have the opportunity to get the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine at Mann-Grandstaff Medical Center starting Saturday. The medical center only received a limited number of the new single-dose admissions this week, but it also has Moderna vaccines for eligible veterans.

Veterans must have an appointment to get vaccinated. For updated information on the vaccine, eligible veterans can call (509) 434-7979.

In Idaho, residents who live in the panhandle and are eligible for the vaccine can access appointments in multiple locations across the five counties. Northwest Specialty Hospital in Post Falls received doses of the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine this week and has open appointments as well.

Here you can see the local numbersThe Spokane Regional Health District confirmed 47 new COVID-19 cases and one more death on Friday.

There have been 587 confirmed deaths from COVID-19 in Spokane County’s residents.

There are 51 COVID-19 patients in the hospital in Spokane.

The Panhandle Health District confirmed seven new cases on Friday.

There are 23 panhandle residents who have been hospitalized with the virus.

Arielle Dreher’s coverage for The Spokesman Review is funded in part by Report for America and members of the Spokane community. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information, please contact the senior editor of our newspaper.