CORONAVIRUS: Monday 3/8/2021 roundup

| Coronavirus | West Seattle news

The vaccination situation once again tops tonight’s pandemic headlines:

VACCINATION MILESTONE: 2 million doses have been administered in our state (which has 7.6 million residents). The announcement notes, “The state has enrolled almost 1400 provider facilities to give COVID-19 vaccines. As of March 8, providers have given more than 80% of the vaccine doses delivered in the state—up from 29% in early January.” Most of those providers haven’t gotten vaccine yet, though.

IF YOU KNOW SOMEONE 65+ WHO’S NOT VACCINATED … you might still be able to get them an appointment this week. The city has just – as we write this – sent an announcement that it’s opened the West Seattle and Rainier Beach sites to ALL Seattle residents 65+, for the rest of this week (through Saturday). Both sites’ registration forms are at seattle.gov/vaccine.

FOR THOSE WHO ARE FULLY VACCINATED – here’s what the CDC says you can do.

NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: Here are the key points of the daily summary from Seattle-King County Public Health:

*83,196 people have tested positive, 93 more than yesterday’s total

*1,416 people have died, 1 more than yesterday’s total

*5,147 people have been hospitalized, 2 more than yesterday’s total

*918,491 people have been tested, 3,995 more than yesterday’s total

One week ago, those totals were 82,303/1,393/5,103/907,357.

STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.

WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 117.1 million cases, 2.6 million deaths – 525,000+ in the U.S. See the other stats – nation by nation – here.

HAZARD PAY VOTE: The King County Council may take a final vote on its version of the hazard-pay-for-grocery-workers bill during its meeting at 1 pm tomorrow. The agenda explains how to watch/comment.

NEED FOOD? This week’s nearest Food Lifeline distribution is 2-5 pm Friday (March 12th) at 815 S. 96th. … Looking ahead, Highland Park Elementary (1012 SW Trenton) will be offering free food boxes 3-5 pm Friday, March 19th.

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

N March 8, 2021 (10:35 pm)

2 million doses sounds awesome but can be misleading. Seems the more relevant number is 1.4 million residents have had at least one shot.

onion March 9, 2021 (6:57 am)

The hazard pay measure seems superfluous after a full year of the pandemic and considering the accelerating pace of vaccinations. Perhaps hazard pay should expire once a person is fully vaccinated? Besides, why select certain sectors and businesses for special treatment when others that are just as “hazardous” are ignored?

AMD March 9, 2021 (8:42 am)

I think restaurant and bar workers should for sure be included, but grocery store workers alone are better than none. Many of the grocery chains did hazard pay at the beginning of the pandemic when it was good PR but then cancelled it when people’s attention was elsewhere so local governments are (slowly) filling that gap. I can’t imagine what it’s like for the grocery workers at the Roxbury Safeway, knowing that the workers at the QFC a block away are considered essential and at-risk enough for hazard pay, but they somehow aren’t.
Brian March 9, 2021 (9:55 am)

Can you enlighten me what the use is in trying to claw money away from fellow workers? Is this a jealousy thing? What is the point of this?

Matt P March 9, 2021 (12:27 pm)

VA has vaccines for any vet regardless of age as long as they are registered with the Puget Sound VA Heath system. Call 206-716-5716 to register for a vaccine. Link to sign up for VA healthcare: https://www.pugetsound.va.gov/patients/eligibility.asp

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