CORONAVIRUS: Monday 4/12/2021 roundup

| Coronavirus | West Seattle news

Our nightly roundup of local pandemic information:

STILL PHASE 3: No change for King County when the governor announced the first county-by-county every-three-weeks status check today.

NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: From the Seattle-King County Public Health daily summary:

*91,715 people have tested positive, 277 more than yesterday’s total

*1,483 people have died, unchanged since Friday

*5,449 people have been hospitalized, 3 more than yesterday’s total

*992,006 people have been tested, 319 more than yesterday’s total

One week ago, those totals were 89,643/1,472/5,381/981,183.

STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.

WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 136.6 million cases, 2,946,000 deaths – 562,000 in the U.S. See the other stats – nation by nation – here.

LOOKING FOR A VACCINATION APPOINTMENT? Two more days until everyone’s eligible. Here’s our ongoing list – updated when we get tips or find new links:

*Check for West Seattle city-run site appointments here; sign up for the city’s notification list for all four of its sites here.
*Health-care providers (particularly bigger ones like UW Medicine (one reader specifically recommends Valley Medical Center), Franciscan, Swedish, Kaiser Permanente, Neighborcare, etc.)
*covidwa.com (volunteer-run aggregator) – you can also follow its tweets for instant notifications
*The state’s Vaccine Locator (as mentioned above)
*The CDC’s Vaccine Finder
*Pharmacies big and small – Safeway, Rite Aid, QFC, Pharmaca, Costco
*Sea Mar clinics

NEED FOOD? This week’s nearest Food Lifeline distribution is 2-5 pm Friday (April 16th) at 815 S. 96th.

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

Curious April 13, 2021 (8:27 am)

Has anyone heard what is happening in regards to the “pause” with the J&J vaccine appointments at the West Seattle site today?

Maclean P Newman April 13, 2021 (8:44 am)

Johnson and Johnson’s vaccine is on pause due to 6 women having rare blood clots.Source: NYTimes

WSB April 13, 2021 (9:40 am)

The FDA has recommended a pause. We’ve heard from one reader who has already been notified that their West Seattle city-site appointment today was switched to Pfizer; I have an inquiry out to the city asking if any appointments will be canceled as a result of the pause. – TR
- WSB April 13, 2021 (9:53 am)
  
  No cancellations anticipated. Separate story coming up.

Reality check April 13, 2021 (9:37 am)

A warning from Michigan…

William Brangham:
And you told one of my colleagues that you’re seeing test positivity rates in the 15 percent to 20 percent range, which is a lot of virus circulating in your community.

Do you have a sense of what is driving those high rates?’
Dr. Nicholas Gilpin:
I do.

I think, for starters, what we’re seeing in terms of these astronomically high positivity rates is, this has all kind of come on the tails of a relaxation in restrictions.

So, for the better part of the winter, and after the holidays, bars and restaurants were predominantly closed, mass gatherings were discouraged.And then, as case numbers started to decline, a lot of those restrictions were relaxed.

So, I think what you’re seeing is a lot of people were, frankly, tired of COVID. They want to get together. They want to see their family. They’re starting to get vaccinated.And so there is this sense of people getting together more in the community. That is one-half of the equation.

I think the other half of the equation is, we’re seeing a lot more of these COVID variants, specifically the B117, or the U.K. variant, which is absolutely in our backyard right now in Michigan.

I believe we’re the second highest state in terms of B117. And we know that the B117 is not only more transmissible, but also potentially more deadly as well.

So, you put those two things together, relaxed restrictions, and a B117 more transmissible variant, and I think that accounts for why you’re seeing so many more cases.’

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/new-covid-variants-relaxed-public-restrictions-cause-spike-in-michigan-hospitalizations

Chemist April 13, 2021 (10:32 am)

My appointment this afternoon at Wsac was switched to Pfizer. Kind of thought it might happen when they supply production story came out last week but one or two dose is fine with me.