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Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers and Health Officer Dr. Chris Spitters provided updates during a virtual press conference Tuesday on the community’s response to COVID-19. They were joined by Alessandra Durham, co-lead for the county’s Office of Social Justice. She provided details about efforts to ensure vaccines are being made available to everybody in the community, including those from historically marginalized communities.
“Got to tell you that this morning, I am extremely concerned about the trends in our case numbers,” Somers said. “For the past two weeks our numbers have been increasing in Snohomish County. This is exactly the wrong direction to be going and I just have to urge all of you to keep wearing masks, keep your distance from others, especially those who have not been vaccinated. As we go into the Easter weekend, I know a lot of families and friends will be gathering and wanting to gather. But we are not through the COVID pandemic yet. We do not have enough people vaccinated to really stem the tide if we let down our guard. Over the last year we’ve seen too many people get sick and die. We just really need to double down on our safety measures for a few more months, keep going. Otherwise we are going to see a spike.”
Somers noted that the county only weeks ago entered Phase 3 under the states Roadmap to Recovery plan, allowing many businesses to reopen or extend hours of operation. That’s in jeopardy if cases continue to climb.
“I do not want to see rollback and I know you don’t either,” the Executive added.
Dr. Spitters said the key is to keep case rates down while more residents are vaccinated against COVID. While that happens, personal actions will continue to have major impacts.
“We can reverse course quickly, but we need your help to do that,” he said. “Act now to keep us in Phase 3. As Executive Somers said, mask up whenever you’re around people you don’t live with—indoors or outdoors. Keep that 6’ distance and wash your hands.”
Durham discussed the county’s effort to work with community leaders in historically marginalized communities to make sure everyone has equitable access to vaccines. She detailed how those conversations had led to thousands of vaccinations and also had planted seeds for partnerships. One program, based on lessons learned in the last Census, will incorporate community advocates who can work with the county vaccine task force in meeting the needs of people who may be challenged by language issues, lack of transportation or distrust for people in authority regarding public health.
Watch the full briefing here: https://youtu.be/Ke7-wtL6eCo
Read the transcript: https://www.snohd.org/DocumentCenter/View/7063/Transcript-033021
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The mass vaccination sites operated by the Snohomish County Vaccine Taskforce remain by appointment only for those eligible in the phased approach to vaccination. However, verification requirements for eligibility are changing.
The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) has announced that, as of Wednesday, March 31, the Phase Finder tool (www.findyourphasewa.org) will be shut down and will no longer be required as proof of eligibility for vaccination appointments. Without that tool, and given the variety of people who are now eligible based on health, age, employment, or living situation, it is no longer practical for the vaccine taskforce to perform spot checks of eligibility as people arrive for first dose appointments at the mass vaccination sites. Following state guidance, we will rely on self-attestation from patients that they are currently eligible. Eligibility information will continue to be provided at http://bit.ly/snocovaccine.
Although Phase Finder is shutting down on March 31, people who signed up before then for a notification when they become eligible will still get that notification, according to DOH.
The vaccination sites continue to be by appointment only, and people will be asked to provide verification that they have an appointment as well as a form of ID to show that they are the person for whom the appointment was booked. If it is a second dose appointment, they should also come prepared with documentation of their first dose. If they’ve lost their vaccination card from their first dose appointment, they can download their vaccination record from http://wa.myir.net.
Everyone is strongly urged to follow the phased approach to vaccination. If you are not eligible, you should not sign up for an appointment at this time. The demand for vaccine remains higher than the number of doses we are receiving. Getting vaccinated ahead of your turn may take an appointment away from someone who is higher risk than yourself. This includes elderly residents, individuals with multiple underlying conditions, and high-risk workers in congregate settings, many of whom still are seeking vaccination appointments.
Eligibility continues to expand and all adults are expected to be eligible no later than May 1. If you are not in the current phase, your turn will come soon. Please be patient as appointment availability remains limited at this time based on supply of vaccine.
People should not arrive at the mass vaccination sites without an appointment seeking extra doses. New appointments are made available at the registration links at http://bit.ly/snocovaccine, and updates on available appointments are shared via Snohomish Health District and Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management social media channels.
The vaccine taskforce also is taking additional steps to avoid confusion around second dose only clinics. People who received their first shot at mass vaccination sites, including Arlington and Monroe, will begin receiving invitation-only links to register for their second dose appointment. They should watch for that email near the target date for their second dose. This is a new tool through the PrepMod registration system that ties the second dose registration to email addresses. Each patient will be able to register but the link cannot be shared and used to book appointments beyond those second dose patients. This should help prevent confusion around people booking first dose appointments at second dose only clinics.
This is a new feature in the registration system. If invitation-only links become problematic for patients registering for their second dose appointment, the taskforce may return to sending clinic links that are not protected by tying registration to email addresses, with a request not to share those links.
For those who do not have email access, the COVID-19 call center for Snohomish County is assisting with second dose registration. The call center is at 425-339-5278, and is staffed 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
For more information on mass vaccination sites in Snohomish County, including eligibility guidelines, visit http://bit.ly/snocovaccine.
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Starting Wednesday, March 31, eligibility for COVID-19 vaccination is expanding again in Washington. New additions are: people 16 years or older with two or more underlying conditions; people age 60 or older; people, staff and volunteers in certain congregate settings, specifically correctional facilities, congregate settings where people experiencing homelessness live or access services, and group homes for people with disabilities; and other at-risk critical workers in certain congregate settings, specifically restaurants and food service, manufacturing and construction.
The Washington State Department of Health is shutting down the Phase Finder tool March 31. Eligibility will be kept up-to-date at http://bit.ly/snocovaccine. Please refer to that eligibility information before you book an appointment at any of the mass vaccination sites in Snohomish County.
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Snohomish Health District epidemiologists are busy crunching numbers and putting out a lot of data and reports about COVID trends and vaccine efforts. Starting this week, case counts for cities will only be updated on Mondays instead of each day. It usually takes a couple days for confirmed cases to be reported to the health district by the labs and providers, so moving to this weekly reporting of case counts will allow more accurate case trends.
Daily case counts and COVID deaths for the county are still available on the state’s data dashboard.
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Hope is Here to Stay: Washington Recognizes Vaccine Milestones
Every day, we pass new milestones on the road to recovery. The job is far from over, but the collective efforts of our Washington community deserve recognition.
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La esperanza está aquí para quedarse con nosotros: Washington reconoce los hitos de la vacuna
Cada día pasamos nuevos hitos en el camino hacia la recuperación. Falta mucho para terminar con esta labor, pero los esfuerzos colectivos de nuestra comunidad de Washington merecen ser reconocidos.
Leer más
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Over the last year, Washington State has provided small businesses throughout the state with more than $125 million in grants to address the economic outfall of COVID-19. This effort continues with a new round of grant opportunities being managed by the Washington State Department of Commerce.
Working Washington Round 4 offers up to $25,000 in grant relief funds to small for-profit businesses, especially those that were required to close due to public health and safety measures.
Apply here.
Priorities for funding are:
- Businesses required to close.
- Businesses with lost revenue as a result of closure.
- Businesses with added expenses to maintain safe operations.
- Equitable distribution of grant funds across the state and to businesses owned and operated by historically disadvantaged individuals.
Contact the technical support center for assistance in navigating the application portal. The English-only support center is open March 22 through April 9 at (855) 602-2722 or by emailing commercegrants@submittable.com.
Phone support is available in seven different languages (Spanish, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Russian, Amharic, Arabic and Tagalog). Call (206) 333-0720. Translated materials are here.
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The Internal Revenue Service issued Announcement 2021-7 PDF Friday clarifying that the purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE), such as masks, hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes, for the primary purpose of preventing the spread of coronavirus are deductible medical expenses.
The amounts paid for personal protective equipment are also eligible to be paid or reimbursed under health flexible spending arrangements (health FSAs), Archer medical savings accounts (Archer MSAs), health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs), or health savings accounts (HSAs).
For more information see the full press release.
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A new CDC study provides strong evidence that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infections in real-world conditions among health care personnel, first responders, and other essential workers. These groups are more likely than the general population to be exposed to the virus because of their occupations.
The study looked at the effectiveness of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna mRNA vaccines in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infections among 3,950 study participants in six states over a 13-week period from December 14, 2020 to March 13, 2021.
Results showed that following the second dose of vaccine (the recommended number of doses), risk of infection was reduced by 90 percent two or more weeks after vaccination. Following a single dose of either vaccine, the participants’ risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2 was reduced by 80 percent two or more weeks after vaccination.
It takes about two weeks following each dose of vaccine for the body to produce antibodies that protect against infection. As a result, people are considered “partially vaccinated” two weeks after their first dose of mRNA vaccine and “fully vaccinated” two weeks after their second dose. These new vaccine effectiveness findings are consistent with those from Phase 3 clinical trials conducted with the vaccines before they received Emergency Use Authorizations from the Food and Drug Administration. Those clinical trials evaluated vaccine efficacy against COVID-19 disease, while this study evaluated vaccine effectiveness against infection, including infections that did not result in symptoms.
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It’s important to unplug. Make sure that you and your teens are taking time away from screens to enjoy other hobbies and activities. #InItTogether
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Snohomish County’s unemployment rate was 6.2% in February, the state Employment Security Department said Tuesday. That compares with 2.8% during the same month a year ago, as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic were just beginning to manifest here.
See the full press release for more information.
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COVID cases have been on the rise among school sports teams in Snohomish County. This is mostly happening off the field when people not wearing masks hang out after games and talk in the parking lot. Practicing COVID-safe behaviors all the time is necessary to beat this virus.
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As part of its effort to promote an equitable economic recovery, the Washington State Department of Commerce established the Small Business Resiliency Network last April to ensure all business owners could be informed about local, state and federal funding and other important resources and programs available to them. The network's trusted community organizations provide culturally appropriate outreach, translation, assistance and education to ensure business owners can find the information they need from people they trust.
Thanks to a partnership with the BECU Foundation, the Small Business Resiliency network has now grown to 31 organizations serving communities in nearly 40 languages. Find an overview sheet here. Some organizations provide services in their area, while others serve businesses statewide. Find a searchable list and map of the network here on Commerce’s website. The most recent organizations added to the network include:
- African Community Housing Development (ACHD)
- CAFÉ (Community for the Advancement of Family Education)
- Cambodian American Community Council
- Carl Maxey Center
- Center for Inclusive Entrepreneurship
- El Centro de la Raza
- Ethiopian Community in Seattle
- Fourth Plain Forward
- Japan-America Society of the State of Washington
- Muslim Association of Puget Sound (MAPS)
- Odyssey World International Education Services
- William Factory Small Business Incubator
“Growing the reach and capacity of this trusted network is vital to ensuring equity in Washington’s economic recovery. We must provide all business owners with equal opportunities to get the help they need to safely reopen and succeed,” said Commerce Director Lisa Brown. “The BECU Foundation shares our commitment and we’re delighted to have their expertise on board.”
The state contracted with BECU Foundation to act as financial agent for the additional $2 million in CARES Act funding that enabled the Small Business Resiliency Network to expand.
“Many rural organizations and small businesses owned by woman and people of color have been deeply and disproportionally impacted by the pandemic,” said Solynn McCurdy, executive director of the BECU Foundation. “We recognize the important role that local organizations play in the financial health of our communities. The BECU Foundation was honored to help these businesses receive this critical funding so they can continue serving individuals and families in the Puget Sound area.”
Read the full release.
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Your group of peeps may be bigger than you think. Keeping Easter gatherings small and safe is an easy way to help stop the spread of COVID. And celebrating outside is a good idea, too.
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We update confirmed and probable case numbers for the county and cities weekly (on Mondays). Hospital data is updated each weekday.
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ESSENTIAL LINKS AND PHONE NUMBERS FOR UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION
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