Klickitat County has received its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines. County Public Health Director Erinn Quinn says they were delivered Thursday to Klickitat Valley Health in Goldendale for vaccinating high priority healthcare workers. The first group of healthcare workers to be vaccinated are those who will be administering the vaccine and includes the staff at Klickitat Valley Health, NorthShore Medical Group, and Skyline Health. Next to be vaccinated will be first responders. The first frontline healthcare providers from both county hospitals and NorthShore Medical Group will be vaccinated promptly, kicking off Klickitat County’s participation in the largest vaccination campaign in United States history. Klickitat Valley Health CEO Leslie Hiebert called the arrival of the first vaccine shipment “the hopeful light at the end of the tunnel.” The vaccine does arrive at a time when positive case counts have surged in Klickitat County. In the first two weeks of December alone there were over 100 reported cases of COVID-19 in the county. That equates to the total reported positive cases between March through July.