CORONAVIRUS: Tuesday 4/20/2021 roundup

| Coronavirus | West Seattle news

Tonight’s pandemic toplines:

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

*94,250 people have tested positive, 313 more than yesterday’s total

*1,498 people have died, 5 more than yesterday’s total

*5,590 people have been hospitalized, 0 more than yesterday’s total

*1,016,855 people have been tested, 7,807 more than yesterday’s total

One week ago, the totals were 91,802/1,485/5,458/992,402.

STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.

NATIONAL/WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 142.6 million cases worldwide, 31.7 million of them in the U.S. – see other nation-by-nation stats by going here.

ANOTHER TESTING SITE: As we mentioned last night, Councilmember Lisa Herbold said the mayor’s office told her another independent-provider testing site would be opening in our area, to help with the void left by the end of testing at the city’s West Seattle hub. Tonight, checking the website for Curative – which runs the kiosk at Don Armeni Boat Ramp – it appears they’re sending a van to Summit Atlas (35th/Roxbury) on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We’ll follow up on this tomorrow.

PANDEMIC BRIEFING: At 8:15 am tomorrow online, state health officials will present their weekly briefing and media Q&A. Watch the livestream here.

VACCINATION PROGRESS: 55.4 percent of King County residents have had at least one shot.

NEED TO BE VACCINATED BUT CAN’T LEAVE HOME … because of an injury, disability, or other medical problem? King County mobile teams might be able to help. Here’s how.

LOOKING FOR A VACCINATION APPOINTMENT? Today’s reader tip – if you’re over 60, try walking up to the city-run Southwest Athletic Complex site (2801 SW Thistle) without an appointment. If you’d rather have something more certain, here’s our ongoing list of what to try:

*For city sites, the official advice is to sign up for the city’s notification list 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
And if travel time is not a barrier – reader recommendation: Try this lookup for potential appointments within a few hours’ drive.

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

Concerned April 21, 2021 (1:15 am)

I’m not seeing much mention of the increased risk of false negative results known to be an issue with the Curative and other oral swab and self administered type Covid-19 tests. The city seems to be increasingly relying on Curative as the primary testing option which seems less than ideal. There doesn’t appear to be a lot of recent information on this but here is an FDA statement from January https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/safety-communications/risk-false-results-curative-sars-cov-2-test-covid-19-fda-safety-communication and a Seattle PI article http://www.seattlepi.com/coronavirus/amp/fda-warning-curative-kiosks-seattle-covid-15861237.php

Kelly April 21, 2021 (7:34 am)

I haven’t heard from any of the many wait lists I signed up for, and failed several time to qualify for a last minute leftover (they count down by age, I’m too young). Fortunately I snagged an appointment at the Vashon Pharmacy. Got my first dose yesterday, very easy in and out and a pretty ferry ride was a bonus. Good luck out there.
https://vashonpharmacy.com/covid/

jason April 21, 2021 (10:20 am)

Interesting. I signed up on the notification list for the city run vaccination sites a couple weeks ago and was just notified that there were appointments available this week.

JEM April 21, 2021 (9:15 am)

I can recommend the waitlist for the city run vaccination sites. I was notified yesterday that the Rainier Beach location has openings and am scheduled for today. If you can travel “off island” I recommend signing up.

MW April 21, 2021 (1:36 pm)

My husband was able to get appointments for himself and his mother at the Showware Center in Kent. I know this isn’t close physically to West Seattle but sharing just in case it helps someone. She lives in Kent. We got appointments for him, his elderly mother, and their elderly neighbor. Over 20 appointments available when we looked.https://www.solvhealth.com/book-online/0xNJjp

anonyme April 21, 2021 (2:40 pm)

Vaccination needs to be mandatory nationwide. We will never get ahead of this otherwise. There are too many dimwits who either don’t understand or ‘believe in’ science or who imagine this to be a political, civil rights issue. Were people always this ignorant, or has social media simply exposed what was there all along?

Pessoa April 21, 2021 (4:04 pm)

Why stop there? Why not mandatory vaccinations, mandatory masks, and a mandatory vaccine “tattoo?” For me, I oscillate between those who are still fearfully wearing a mask after being fully vaccinated and those who are freaking out over the J&J vaccine and an infinitesimal chance of blood clots.
AnonymousReply April 21, 2021 (4:25 pm)

Some people are actually genuinely concerned about the vaccines and possibly the side effects or much later side effects. I personally know someone with underlying health and immune system issues who’s taking every single precaution there is and basically living inside a bubble for just over a year now who’s interested in the vaccines but they’ve got absolutely no information whatsoever on the CDC website about certain conditions. It’s still all one big study on the people and some are sincerely just worried. People have became infected after being fully vaccinated and some have died. Some have died within days of the first dose or a week or two after the second dose, but of course nobody is actually taking any accountability on those deaths being linked to these vaccines on any of those that have died soon after the vaccine. Some people want much more information over rushing out with no questions asked and getting a shot that’s been rushed and approved for immediate use this time I know of some who are hesitant to take a vaccine without much info available on said vaccines, but still will need to mask and stay distances from others for the foreseeable future. Not knowing still if this vaccine is going to hold up to all the new variants that are emerging. Who’s to say that all these deaths that have happened after receiving the vaccine aren’t possible longer term side effects that have effected certain people more short term. I understand many of millions have done fine with the vaccines but some people are genuinely concerned and don’t just want to rush right out and except a brand new, not even approved by the FDA but just for emergency usage vaccines. It sounds as if the entire world needs vaccinated with all the different variants that are and will continue to come out and the way there seems to be no travel restrictions this virus was and is allowed to spread. Reminds me of a submarine, let’s put a screen door at this end and full protection at that end and expect results of not taking on any water. So much counterproductive measures taking place this entire past year and will continue. This pandemic at this time is most definitely here and probably here to stay and going to get much worse before getting any better anytime soon.
- Not a dimwit April 21, 2021 (9:34 pm)
  
  I’m hesitant for some of the reasons listed above and I’m not a dimwit. I do agree that social media has exposed a lot though, ha!I don’t understand the need for name-calling, it just seems petty and unproductive.
Um, No! April 22, 2021 (11:21 am)

@anonyme Or you could just brush up on the constitution and it’s amendments.

Anna April 21, 2021 (11:03 pm)

I’m not a dimwit either, and I am hesitant about getting a vaccine. It’s not just that the vaccines are new, the technologies they are using are very very new too. I would be much more interested in an inactivated covid vaccine or a live covid vaccine—Some type of vaccine that uses a technology with a longer track record. mRNA vaccines & viral vector vaccines could turn out to very very safe in the long term but we just can’t say that they are yet, as we really don’t know. If I were 70, I would be less hesitant, as the risk of serious covid complications would be greater. But I’m not, and I’m going to wait. And one more thing—science isn’t one thing to believe in. Saying you are hesitant about the vaccine has nothing to do with being pro or anti science. It would be nice if people went back to using language that recognizes the complexity in such issues.

anonyme April 22, 2021 (8:02 am)

A lot of people are going to die waiting for perfection, and nit-picking all that could possibly be wrong with current vaccines is a great way to ensure that happens. The current vaccines will undoubtedly evolve and become more efficient. Meanwhile, there is no time to waste. Complexity is something that is fully recognizable outside of conspiracy theories; however, a rational, yet imperfect choice must eventually be made, a choice that supersedes individual importance. Truth is, the planet has an estimated 4 billion homo sapiens more than finite resources can support. Your complex choices should help in bringing that number into balance. Congratulations.

Pessoa April 22, 2021 (8:14 am)

Excellent, lively discussion! Anyone who has followed – or been bored – by my comment trail knows I am a strong proponent of individual liberties and would be right in assuming I am ethically opposed to forcing anyone to take a vaccine, for whatever reason. But putting aside the libertarian half of me, I also know that our daily routines – driving, eating, getting out of bed – probably entail more risk than getting a vaccine shot. As importantly, the risk of contracting the virus AFTER being fully vaccinated is microscopically low, and yet many self-described “science believers” still believe we should walk around like mummies from Raiders of the Lost Ark. It is perplexing and worrisome for someone who works in the sciences to witness this irrationality across an entire society. I understand people are worried and concerned – I really do – but there is a terrible price to be paid for a “safety at all cost” society.

Sorry, comment time is over.