Citing a better outlook for the supply of the COVID vaccine in Washington, Governor Jay Inslee announced that the next two levels of eligible groups, including restaurant workers, can apply to be vaccinated starting March 31. This is a much clearer and faster schedule than the officers previously revealed.
Before Inslee made his announcement, it was unclear when the restaurant’s employees would be vaccinated in Washington. Although other food service workers – including those in supermarkets – became eligible on March 17, restaurant workers were not included in this group. The Washington Department of Health (DOH) said the reasoning behind the decision to separate them for a later level of eligibility was because “restaurants are generally smaller and have alternative options to avoid congregating customers, such as delivery options. and delivery”. But with restaurants allowed to increase capacity to 50 percent from March 22, that justification did not stand up to scrutiny, and the state’s vaccine plan did not contain much clarification for subsequent vaccine groups, and noted that they would next in line this “spring / summer.”
At his March 18 news conference announcing a fast-paced schedule, Inslee admitted that there were other factors involved in putting other food industry employees ahead of hospitality workers, in addition to the so-called “alternative” restaurant options. “We decided that food service workers and grocery workers, to some extent, were more essential, in a way, because we get our staple foods from supermarkets,” he said. “This is not to diminish the importance of restaurants. But we made that decision and I think it is a justifiable decision. If we had done them at the same time, it would have made a difference of about two weeks. “
While accelerated qualification for restaurant workers is good news, time is of the essence. Inslee said the new groups from March 31 will open up access to the vaccine to an additional 2 million Washington residents, in addition to the 3 million already eligible, and the offer is still struggling to keep up with demand. The state has rapidly increased its ability to provide injections in the past two months, and finding commitments is starting to be less of a challenge.
In that regard, officials said the state is working to improve its online vaccine tracking tool and is continually looking for ways to make the inoculation process more efficient with help from the private sector, such as Starbucks. Here in Seattle, Lumen Field recently opened as a major vaccine clinic, and the city says the city is capable of delivering 150,000 doses of vaccine per week when operating at full strength.