CORONAVIRUS: Thursday 3/4/2021 roundup

The vaccination situation tops pandemic headlines again tonight:

ELIGIBILITY-EXPANSION PLAN: Provided enough vaccine is available, Gov. Inslee laid out more eligibility additions, starting March 22nd, continuing April 12th and April 26th. The plan – described as “tentative” – is detailed briefly here, in more detail here. Inslee said he’s hopeful those are achievable goals, because the pace of vaccinations keeps speeding up – averaging almost 44,000 a day statewide, with two 60,000+ days in the past week – and the supply is projected to increase too.

BACK TO SCHOOL? Though the state’s biggest district, Seattle Public Schools, is in a standoff with its teachers, the governor opened and closed his briefing by saying it’s imperative that students get back in the classroom, after a year away. He insisted it can be, and is being, done safely. Asked specifically about the SPS disagreement, Inslee said he’s talked to both sides. While not specifically saying he was talking about Seattle, he expressed frustration at what he called “excuses” for not getting back to in-person learning. Next week marks one year since he ordered schools to close.

NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: From the Public Health daily-summary dashboard, here are today’s cumulative totals:

*82,716 people have tested positive, 209 more than yesterday’s total

*1,411 people have died, 7 more than yesterday’s total

*5,113 people have been hospitalized, 4 more than yesterday’s total

*912,028 people have been tested, 1,657 more than yesterday’s total

One week ago, the four totals we track were 81,786/1,373/5,088/899,466.

STATEWIDE NUMBERS: Find them, county by county, on the state Department of Health page.

WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 115.6 million cases worldwide, 28.8 million of them in the U.S. See the nation-by-nation breakout here.

IF YOU’RE STILL SEEKING VACCINE … If you’re 65+, check to see if that city clinic has any Friday spaces left … We learned from Seattle-King County Public Health reps at tonight’s North Highline Unincorporated Area Council meeting that the VA is offering vaccinations to any enrolled veteran, no matter their age; call 206-716-5716 … Your neighbors continue recommending covidwa.com – which is also now tweeting new openings at @covidwashington – as well as Sea Mar‘s walk-in clinics

NEED FOOD? All welcome at the weekly distribution of food boxes 2-5 pm tomorrow at Food Lifeline (815 S. 96th).

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

5 Replies to "CORONAVIRUS: Thursday 3/4/2021 roundup"

  • Diane March 5, 2021 (12:19 pm)

    good news re all the headlines saying that Veterans of all ages can now get access to the vaccine; the bad news is my Veteran friend, who like most Veterans, is not enrolled with VA Health Care; he filled out the application last night and was then informed it will take a month to process his application; so he’s a Veteran who served many years, is fully eligible, but still can’t get the vaccine, due to VA backed up bureaucracy 

    • Andy March 5, 2021 (12:48 pm)

      Your friend should be proactive about checking the status of his application. I had to apply as well (about a month ago now), and when I called a week later to check, it was already approved.  And FWIW, I have made a lot of phone calls to the VA over the last few weeks about all of this, and they were extremely helpful and forthcoming with information every time. Hopefully your friend can get taken care of!

      • Andy March 5, 2021 (1:30 pm)

        Diane, I chose an incorrect word in my response. I should not have said my application was “approved.” It was processed. I was denied the vaccine because my household income is too high to qualify for VA health care. It’s one of those things I think a lot of people aren’t aware of up front. Was certainly a surprise to me.

        • Diane March 5, 2021 (2:00 pm)

          oh shoot; well thank you for sharing all of this; it’s sure better to know that outcome now rather than wait for a month and be declined; I read everything on the VA website and this was not made clear at all; grateful for your help

    • weakell March 5, 2021 (1:09 pm)

      Have him check the SeaMar site daily: https://www.seamar.org/covid-vaccine.html
      He can go whenever a clinic near him has vaccine in stock at no cost. No bureaucracy to deal with! Looks like today it’s available at Lakewood and Vashon Island, and earlier this week it was in Burien and Seattle so they’re getting vaccine in rather consistently. He should have no problem getting it sooner than a month out!

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