A COVID test site to drive. (Photo AP / Virginia Mayo, file)
Dow Constantine Executive announced Friday that King County will establish high-volume community vaccination sites.
See the phases of the COVID-19 vaccine in Washington
The hope is that the sites will be similar to the existing high-volume test locations the county already uses and make sure we “get to the ground while medical staff receive their doses.”
The county will try to eliminate some of the bureaucratic paperwork that would normally pose barriers to a plan like this and instead pay for vaccine distribution sites directly from its own budget.
“We don’t expect all the usual negotiations and contracts, but we expect the state and federal government to reimburse them if we want to continue our strong public health response,” Constantine said.
Initially, it will focus on creating sites in South King County, where COVID-19 cases are currently highest in the region, while residents faced “distressing health disparities”.
According to current timeline, Seattle-King County Public Health expects the first sites to be operational by Feb. 1.
This comes after Washington state health officials released information about the next phase of vaccine prioritization.
Governor Inslee unveils “Healthy Washington,” a regional reopening plan
The first phase, which began in December, includes high-risk health workers in health settings, high-risk lifeguards, residents of long-term care facilities and recently expanded to other workers in health settings.
Michele Roberts, acting deputy secretary of the Washington State Department of Health, specified that Phase 1B will have several levels, the first of which includes all people aged 70 and 50 or older in multigenerational households. . Level B2 includes high-risk critical workers aged 50 or over who work in certain congregated settings: agriculture; food processing; grocery stores; K-12 teachers and school staff; child care; corrections; prisons, prisons or detention centers; public transport; fire; law enforcement.