The vaccination situation was explored at two City Council committee meetings today, and that’s where we start tonight’s roundup:

VACCINATION SITUATION: The day began with the Public Safety and Human Services Committee, chaired by West Seattle/South Park Councilmember Lisa Herbold, talking with city and county reps:

This discussion included what Herbold has already announced, that the city has committed to a mass-vaccination site in West Seattle – when there’s enough vaccine supply. When might that be? Entirely up to the feds and state, it was said again and again. If the current supply pace doesn’t pick up, it would take almost a year to vaccinate everyone in our area. However, health authorities expect it will pick up – maybe with wide availability by April or May. If they had enough vaccine, they could be vaccinating 31,000 people a day, and that would get the city to “herd immunity” within a month.

In the afternoon, the Governance and Education Committee, chaired by Council President Lorena González, focused on vaccination equity – vital because of how COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting communities of color:

This meeting included intense stories from community health organization operators about trying to get vaccine and trying to help their most-vulnerable clients navigate the system. They argued that equity isn’t just their job – it needs to be front and center for all providers, as well as for the county and state.

NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: Here’s the update from today’s daily summary from Seattle-King County Public Health – the cumulative totals:

*78,981 people have tested positive, 118 more than yesterday’s total

*1,300 people have died, 1 more than yesterday’s total

*4,919 people have been hospitalized, 10 more than yesterday’s total

*863,266 people have been tested, 297 more than yesterday’s total

One week ago, the totals were 77,186/1,270/4,821/835.640.

STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.

NATIONAL/WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 106.9 million cases worldwide, 27.1 million of them in the U.S. – see other nation-by-nation stats by going here.

HELP FOR HOSPITALITY WORKERS: Next Monday is the deadline to apply for a grant from the emergency fund for low-income hospitality workers.

BRIEFING TOMORROW: The weekly briefing by state health officials is at 1 pm tomorrow. You can watch the live stream here.

THINK YOU’RE A MASK EXPERT? Read this.

GOT SOMETHING TO REPORT? westseattleblog@gmail.com or 206-293-6302, text/voice – thank you!