Here are the major local pandemic updates as we head into the weekend:

KING COUNTY NUMBERS: First, the latest stats from the Public Health daily-summary page, cumulative totals:

*85,073 people have tested positive, 214 more than yesterday’s total

*1,450 people have died, 6 more than yesterday’s total

*5,200 people have been hospitalized, 1 more than yesterday’s total

*942,237 people have been tested, 1,640 more than yesterday’s total

On to our weekly check of key numbers on the COVID Vaccination Among King County Residents dashboard:

*535,724 people have received one dose

*291,838 people have received both doses

*802.355 doses have been allocated to King County

One week ago, the first four totals were 83,806/1,435/5,166/926,928, and the vaccination totals were 459,191/260,713/714,115.

STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.

WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 122.2 million cases, 2,701,000+ deaths – see the nation-by-nation numbers here.

COUNTY HEALTH OFFICER’S BRIEFING: In his weekly briefing, Dr. Jeff Duchin said “The forecast is partly sunny with storm clouds on the horizon.’ But he said clear signs of the vaccines’ success is the drop in case numbers among older people – the majority of new cases now are in younger and middle-age adults. Bad news is, cases are on the rise again, “and we can’t let optimism blind us to the situation.” He urged everyone – vaccinated or not – to keep taking precautions, particularly masking and (when you’re indoors) ventilation.

VACCINATION LEFTOVERS: Dr. Duchin said that right now the county is only getting an average of 1 dose a week for every 8 eligible people, though the supply is expected to increase soon. In light of that, before we get to the “where to look” list, we have an interesting report from reader Brian: He says people are gathering at the West Seattle community vaccination site late in the afternoon, hoping for a chance at a leftover shot – as you’ve probably heard, the two-dose vaccines can’t be saved, once opened. (Brian sent a photo of the crowd gathered today, but we don’t want to violate anyone’s medical privacy, so we’re not publishing it.) He reports that yesterday, about 50 people showed up, and 8 got shots; today, about 100 were there, and 12 shots were available. We asked city spokesperson Kelsey Nyland about the official policy for these “leftovers.” She replied:

Generally, the Seattle Fire Department has around four-five doses left at the end of each day at our Rainier Beach and West Seattle vaccination hubs. We have found that residents in the area gravitate toward each site at the end of each day. If unused vaccine is available, SFD will vaccinate the oldest people in the line outside the site. SFD has found that this approach results in more older adults getting vaccinated through end-of-day doses than the standby list we previously used.

IF YOU’RE ELIGIBLE AND LOOKING FOR AN APPOINTMENT … here are the links we’ve amassed:

*Check for West Seattle city-run site appointments here; sign up for the city’s notification list for all three of its sites here.
*Health-care providers (particularly bigger ones like UW Medicine, CHI Franciscan, Swedish, Kaiser Permanente, etc.)
*covidwa.com (volunteer-run aggregator)
*Pharmacies big and small – Safeway, Rite Aid, QFC, Pharmaca, Costco
*Sea Mar clinics

IF YOU NEED TESTING SATURDAY: The city’s West Seattle test site (2801 SW Thistle) continues to be open on Saturdays.

GOT INFO OR PHOTOS? westseattleblog@gmail.com or text/voice 206-293-6302 – thank you!