by Jack Russillo
Purchasing additional doses of the COVID-19 vaccine is the main constraint for vaccinating King County residents, said Patty Hayes, director of public health for King County, at a virtual city hall on the night of March 3.
The City Hall virtual event took place less than a week after the New York Times analysis showed that, of the 100 most populous counties in the United States, King County has the second lowest COVID-19 infection rate in the country, after from Honolulu County, Hawaii. I. Snohomish County to the north has the third lowest rate in the country, while Pierce County to the south has the sixth lowest rate. King County is the seventh on the list with the lowest number of deaths caused by the virus. As a state, Washington has the fifth lowest rate of COVID-19 cases, despite being the epicenter of the pandemic in the country for more than a year.
“I am very proud to be here, but this is a big thank you that goes to all of you,” said Hayes. “This has been a response from the whole community. My team is very grateful for the support we receive from all elected officials who are dedicated to science, but also from everyone in the community ”.
The King County community, however, is likely to have to keep waiting for its time before Johnson & Johnson’s newly approved single-dose vaccine is distributed, Hayes said, and noted that supplies of the new vaccine in King County are “extremely limited “.
“I’m not sure if King County is going to get any,” said Hayes.
Hayes said King County is trying to vaccinate 70% of its adults, which would lead the county to achieve its goal of obtaining collective immunity. There are still no vaccines approved for children under 16, but Hayes expects developments in this area during the summer.
On how to continue vaccinating King County residents, Hayes said King County Public Health has established a multimodal vaccine delivery system to distribute the vaccine to certain communities in different ways. This system includes high-volume sites, such as mass vaccination centers, medium-capacity methods, such as pharmacies or supermarkets, and low-volume sites, such as mobile vaccination teams or instant vaccination clinics.
On March 3, 20% of King County residents (369,359 people) received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 11.2% (207,315 people) were fully vaccinated.
The federal government is responsible for distributing the vaccine across the country, but it is the state government that enrolls healthcare professionals to provide them with the training and resources to safely vaccinate their clients. The state health department also chooses which providers to send the vaccine to, after receiving guidance from county agencies on how best to reach priority populations.
Although in the past four weeks King County has received its four largest weekly shipments of the vaccine – about 80,000 doses – the number of doses is still below what the county wants. In King County, there are 391 vaccination sites for suppliers, but only 24 received doses last week, Hayes said. A key issue in scheduling appointments is the lack of a centralized system to coordinate providers with customers and their available doses.
“Doses remain our limitation,” said Hayes. “I just want everyone to know that, as far as I can tell, we are going to experience a slow increase in the coming weeks. As President Biden promised to increase the [vaccine production], I think we will see it rise slowly, but I do not expect to see a huge bump until the beginning of April. This is part of the challenge of adding school and daycare staff now. “
Child educators and assistants were recently added to the 1B Tier 2 list for people qualified to receive their vaccination – and are immediately eligible – while police, supermarkets and other essential jobs will qualify for the vaccine on March 22. Educator and vaccination of child caregivers will be carried out through existing providers and the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program.
“Like President Biden, I am grateful for the hard work and sacrifice of educators every day, especially during this pandemic,” said Governor Jay Inslee in a press release. “The good news is that schools will be able to open and we are satisfied with the teachers’ return to classes. This should give educators more confidence to return to face-to-face learning and that this can be done with the security protocols that are being used by 1,400 other schools in our state right now. We will continue with current state plans and goals to focus on those most at risk, including older adults and those facing the largest capital gaps. “
Hayes also spoke about some of the equity gaps mentioned by Inslee, mainly that the coronavirus continues to affect people in BIPOC at a disproportionate rate. To contain the disparities – which appear in lower vaccination numbers for residents of Black King County, the only racial demographic group with less than 35% of people over 65 vaccinated – Hayes said King County Public Health is having more conversations on how to increase partnerships with community organizations to improve the distribution and accessibility of information and to ensure that more priority populations can be vaccinated. Kent and Renton mass vaccination sites, for example, were originally chosen for their sites due to their proximity to BIPOC population centers, but they are only distributing about a quarter of the 2,000 possible doses per day due to a lack of supply. .
King County Public Health is currently working with community clinic professionals from the International Community Health Services and Sea Mar Community Health Centers to help eligible BIPOC people register for their vaccination appointments and to ensure they are vaccinated. Working with community organizations is “an essential bridge for communities to have a reliable voice” and identify “the best place for people to be vaccinated,” said Hayes. There are emerging partnerships with Uber and Lyft to help people get to vaccination sites.
“Our priority this month will continue to be these communities,” said Hayes. “I know that if we don’t continue to focus on these underserved communities, they will continue to see the barriers that they have seen historically. This is where our commitment remains. “
Jack Russillo has been reporting in Western Washington since 2013. He covers the environment, social justice and other topics that affect a sustainable and egalitarian future. He currently lives in Seattle’s Beacon Hill neighborhood.
Featured image courtesy of ICHS.
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