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People in Snohomish County continue to make steady progress getting vaccinated against the virus that causes COVID-19, and opportunities to access that protection are taking on different forms, a press conference was told Tuesday.
Declining demand at mass-vaccination sites is being offset by more vaccine availability and opportunities through traditional health care providers. Meanwhile, the Snohomish County Vaccine Taskforce is shifting its focus away from operating mass-vaccination sites and more toward setting up community-based clinics at schools, churches and special events, such as during AquaSox games tonight and tomorrow at Funko Field in Everett.
The taskforce last week hosted its first school-based clinic at Explorer Middle School in Everett. Most of the vaccines were provided to students ages 12 to 15, but the team also vaccinated some family members and neighbors who walked over to the school to get their shots, said Jason Biermann, director of the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management.
“All in all, we were able to get 235 people vaccinated at that event,” he said.
Younger people have been quick to access the Pfizer vaccine now that they are eligible for vaccination, Dr. Chris Spitters, Health Officer for the Snohomish Health District, told the press conference. As of May 26, roughly 27% of the county population ages 12-15 had initiated their vaccinations, he said.
The press conference also featured comments from Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers and Dr. Adam Jonas, District Medical Director, Snohomish, for Kaiser Permanente Washington.
The Executive said Memorial Day 2022 should coincide with the unveiling of a new art installation along the Centennial Trail at Haller Bridge in Arlington, honoring veterans lost in post 9/11 conflicts.
He also said the county expects this week to make available more Small Business Relief, Recovery, and Resiliency (R3) grant funding to businesses that had previously applied but did not receive aid.
“We are able to do this because we have been careful,” Somers said.
Dr. Jonas said Kaiser Permanente Washington is doing what it can to make it easy for patients to get vaccinated against COVID and to catch up on medical care that may have been delayed during the pandemic.
Jonas said he is aware that some people continue to be uncertain about the vaccines. He encourages them to approach doctors and other health care providers they trust to talk it through and provide the best advice.
“Let us help you make decisions about getting the vaccine,” Jonas said.
Meanwhile, COVID-19 cases continue to decline in the county, a development fueled in large measure by rising vaccination rates. There were 129 new COVID cases per 100,000 population during the latest two-week period, data show.
Find a video recording of the full briefing here: https://youtu.be/l3FXC6PykvI
Masking and vaxxing continue to pay off, with steep declines in new COVID-19 cases. The case rate in @SnoCounty is now 154 per 100,000 people. Numbers haven’t been this low since January. Please keep it up. #InItTogether
Gov. Jay Inslee says he plans to relax COVID restrictions in Washington on June 30 – even earlier if 70% or more of the state’s population 16 and up initiates vaccination. In Snohomish County, we were at 63.3% for that metric as of May 30. As the county with the state's third-largest population, we can have an outsized impact in helping hit the 70% mark.
 Health Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers, Emergency Management Director Jason Biermann, Snohomish Health District Health Officer Dr. Chris Spitters, and Kaiser Permanente Snohomish Medical Director Dr. Adam Jonas provide updates on the response to COVID-19.
https://youtu.be/l3FXC6PykvI
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