Coronavirus updates: Vaccine clinic planned in Seattle; testing program in Pierce County schools shows promise
The Washington state Department of Health reported 2,223 new cases of COVID-19 and 125 deaths Thursday. The high number of new deaths is due to a Jan. 14-20 data processing backlog, DOH said.
Pierce County reported 304 cases Thursday and nine new deaths. Pierce County has a total of 373 deaths likely caused by COVID-19 as of Thursday, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are 296,087 cases and 4,065 deaths. Those numbers are up from 293,864 cases Wednesday and 3,940 deaths Tuesday. The case total includes 12,899 cases listed as probable. DOH revises previous case and death counts daily.
As of Jan. 2, the date with the most recent complete data, 98 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 were admitted to Washington state hospitals.
Preliminary reports indicate average daily hospital admissions were 112 in mid-January.
Out of the state’s total staffed intensive care unit beds (1,197), approximately 81% (969) were occupied by patients Thursday. Of those staffed ICU beds, 18.5% (221) held suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients.
Inslee: COVID vaccine clinic planned Sunday in Seattle with goal of 2,000 shots
Amazon and Virginia Mason will hold a pop-up clinic in Seattle Sunday with a goal to administer 2,000 COVID-19 vaccines that day to eligible people, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced Thursday.
Inslee shared the news at a virtual press conference, where he was slated to talk about the 2021 legislative session and vaccination in the state. Jay Carney, senior vice president of global corporate affairs at Amazon, and Dr. Gary Kaplan, co-CEO of Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, joined the governor for the announcement.
According to Kaplan, it’s the first of what will be many large-scale vaccination events. Washington residents can learn what phase they’re in for vaccinations online here: www.findyourphasewa.org.
EVENT DETAILS
The pop-up will take place Sunday, Jan. 24, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Amazon Meeting Center on 7th Avenue in the South Lake Union area, he said. Amazon is providing the facility, set-up, some supplies and signage, way-finding and free parking. Virginia Mason will staff the event and provide medical supplies and the vaccine.
People can get on Virginia Mason’s vaccine waiting list online at www.virginiamason.org, Kaplan said — those on the list should receive an invitation to register for the event and reserve an appointment.
People who get a vaccine at the event will be scheduled for their second shot while there. The vaccine is free of charge, with or without insurance, Kaplan emphasized.
The event is part of a series of changes announced Monday aimed at picking up the pace of the state’s vaccination efforts, Inslee announced Washington had moved into the first tier of Phase 1B of the state’s vaccination program. In that tier, people age 65 and older are eligible for the vaccine, as is anyone age 50 and older who lives in a multi-generational household.
ONLY ABOUT HALF OF STATE’S VACCINE HAS BEEN ADMINISTERED
On Monday, Inslee said every dose already allocated before this week had to be given by Jan. 24. Though the pace has increased, the state is well behind that mark.
Data presented at the press conference show that providers have reported 362,046 vaccine doses as administered in the state, out of 829,800 doses delivered here. That data lags behind reality, officials have said, due to issues with disparate data-reporting systems they’re working to resolve.
Including long-term care facilities where vaccines are distributed via a federal pharmacy partnership program, 43.6 percent of doses have been given, according to the data shared Thursday. Excluding long-term care, the state has administered 52.4 percent.
“We believe that many more doses have been administered out in the community,” said Michele Roberts, acting assistant secretary for prevention and community health at the state Department of Health. “That’s what our health systems are telling us, and then there is lags in reporting to the state.”
Roberts is leading COVID-19 vaccine planning and distribution.
About 2,400 long-term care facilities in Washington state signed up for that national program, for which doses of vaccine are set aside, Roberts said. Walgreens and CVS, which are involved in that program, have told the state they’ll complete a first visit to all of those facilities by this Sunday.
Asked Thursday about progress toward Inslee’s Sunday target, Health Secretary Dr. Umair Shah highlighted the “significant progress” made so far while also saying there will likely need to be more efforts to “encourage and incentivize and/or require our partners to be able to do certain things.”
Qualified for COVID vaccine but can’t find it in Pierce County or WA state? Here’s why
Jo Ann Bender arranges her day around calling local health care clinics and providers.
For the past two weeks, Bender starts her day by calling hospitals, doctor’s offices and clinics at 8 a.m. to make an appointment for the COVID-19 vaccine.
Bender, who declined to provide her age but said she has a medical condition that qualifies her to receive a vaccine, has even dropped by hospitals to learn more about the best way to win a dose.
“All of the places that have the vaccine are full up for vaccinations. They are not accepting or closed their websites,” she said.
Bender has not been given a shot yet, but she has found a clinic that takes walk-in appointments. She intends to arrive at 6 a.m. and wait until they open doors at 8:30 a.m.
“It’s a full-time job,” Bender said.
She isn’t alone in her struggle.
Buckley Mayor Pat Johnson told the Tacoma-Pierce County’s Board of Health on Wednesday that she had to apply several times before getting a vaccination appointment scheduled.
“It’s not an easy process to go through,” Johnson told the board.
State Department of Health Secretary Dr. Umair Shah on Thursday acknowledged what everyone looking for a COVID-19 vaccine already knows.
“We know the reality is that we do not have enough vaccine supply that’s coming into the state,” Shah said in a media briefing.
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department’s director of health, Dr. Anthony Chen, also acknowledged that there has been an issue in getting people immunized.
The local health department plans to create phone banks and set up COVID-10 vaccine schedulers to work with pharmacies to grapple with the scheduling backlog.
“We need people to be patient on this,” Chen said in an interview with The News Tribune on Thursday. “Remember the iPhones, people would line up, right, and camp out overnight so they can get the newest iPhone and then it will sell out like after the first day or two and people got frustrated. But people dealt with it. They were able to say, ‘I can’t get the iPhone today, but maybe in a month I’ll get the iPhone.’
“So I think people need to realize at least the iPhone is for people who want an iPhone. We’re targeting 900,000 people in Pierce County, or at least 70-80 percent. So that’s a huge demand.”
The message from state officials who held a series of briefings with reporters on Thursday was that hopes are high the situation will change soon, with help from the Biden administration.
Pilot program that tested Pierce County schools for COVID-19 yields ‘promising’ results
A School Based Testing Pilot (SBTP) program that tested people at three Pierce County school districts for COVID-19 over the course of three weeks resulted in few positive cases.
White River, Peninsula and Eatonville school districts participated in the program, which was funded with $7.8 million of federal CARES Act dollars.
Out of nearly 10,000 administered tests, 0.2 percent registered positive for COVID-19, according to an end of year report.
The findings are “promising news” and support the transition to slowly reopen schools, according to Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department officials.
“Our pilot testing program gave us hope that we can bring students back for in-person learning while protecting health and safety and controlling community spread,” Tacoma-Pierce County Director of Health Anthony Chen said in a blog update. “The results give us confidence that the guidelines Department of Health set last month are valid. We will continue to work with all districts in the county as they safely bring students back to classrooms.”
So far, 11 of our 15 public school districts and one private school have reached out for assistance with testing, said TPCHD spokesperson Dale Phelps.
“We are working with all on helping provide test kits and getting them up and running with testing,” Phelps said in an email.
In December, the state Department of Health and Gov. Jay Inslee revised school reopening guidance by lowering the recommended COVID-19 case threshold to open for in-person learning. In counties with a case rate of more than 350 cases per 100,000 people over a 14-day period, schools are recommended to phase in in-person learning in groups of 15 or fewer students for pre-K through grade 5, in addition to students with the highest needs.
In Pierce County, school districts have started returning the youngest students to school. Tacoma Public Schools kindergarten students returned Jan. 19. Preschoolers will return Jan. 25, and first and second graders on Feb. 8.
The SBTP administered 9,827 rapid antigen tests to 4,064 students and staff across the three districts.
A total of 73 PCR tests also were conducted either because of a positive antigen test, the person was symptomatic, or they were identified as a close contact. Out of the 73 PCR tests, 20 were positive.
Antigen tests look for proteins in the virus and are less sensitive than PCR tests, which tests for the virus on a molecular level. PCR tests are generally more accurate.
People who tested positive were quarantined from others and then sent home to isolate.
The White River School District tested 1,824 individuals and found 11 positive antigen tests. Peninsula School District tested 1,969 individuals and found 13 positive antigen tests. Eatonville tested 271 individuals and found five positive antigen tests.
The SBTP also surveyed faculty, staff and parents about the testing and received more than 4,000 responses. A majority of respondents said the testing pilot did not change their existing beliefs about the risk of COVID-19 or reopening schools, citing concerns about low participation in the program. Respondents also said the testing process was quick and easy to access.
All three districts are continuing some version of testing.
Peninsula School District told Gateway reporter Chase Hutchinson last week that tests will be administered by trained staff and taken weekly and that unlike prior mass testing, the district will only test select “high-risk” students and staff.
Eatonville is offering PCR tests to staff and eligible students 16 and older to participate in weekly testing, according to TPCHD, and White River is testing secondary students using a rapid antigen test as part of its back-to-school event.
While Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department officials found the results promising, they encouraged schools to expand reopening efforts based on district needs.
“(The) Department of Health recommends reopening schools under the assumption transmission in classrooms is low. This assumption requires more analysis to fully assess in-school transmission,” the report stated.
Craig Sailor, Josephine Peterson, Allison Needles, Debbie Cockrell and Sara Gentzler contributed to this report.
This story was originally published January 22, 2021 at 9:28 AM with the headline "Coronavirus updates: Vaccine clinic planned in Seattle; testing program in Pierce County schools shows promise."
