CORONAVIRUS: Wednesday 4/21/2021 roundup

| Coronavirus | West Seattle news

Tonight’s local/state pandemic toplines:

NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: From the Seattle-King County Public Health daily-summary dashboard, the cumulative totals:

*94,614 people have tested positive, 364 more than yesterday’s total

*1,499 people have died, 1 more than yesterday’s total

*5,601 people have been hospitalized, 11 more than yesterday’s total

*1,017,776 people have been tested, 921 more than yesterday’s total

One week ago, the four totals we track were 92,158/1,489/5,490/1,001,280.

STATEWIDE NUMBERS: Find all the numbers, county by county, on the state Department of Health data page,.

WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: See them, nation by nation, here.

STATE HEALTH OFFICIALS’ BRIEFING: The weekly briefing by Secretary of Health Dr. Umair Shah and other officials happened this morning. Watch the briefing here. Highlights included Dr. Shah announcing a new goal of 90,000 vaccinations in the state every day. Right now, the average is 58,000, according to the new vaccination-situation report. He also warned that while “the state is close to turning the corner,” we also “are seeing the beginning of a fourth wave.”

VACCINATION WALK-INS: The city confirmed today what we reported Tuesday thanks to a reader tip – if you’re 60+ you can just walk into the city-run West Seattle hub and get vaccinated; if someone else brings you, as a “Good Neighbor” that person can get a shot too.

IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A VACCINATION APPOINTMENT … here are links 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 INFO? Email us at westseattleblog@gmail.com or phone us, text or voice, at 206-293-6302 – thank you!

HS April 22, 2021 (8:28 am)

We can do it. Mask up, keep searching for and getting your vaccine, the trees are blooming and there are better days ahead.

Bandana April 22, 2021 (9:51 am)

Your optimism is refreshing!

MrsT April 22, 2021 (11:00 am)

So far finding it impossible to schedule a (Pfizer) vaccine for my 16 year old. Any neighbors who have succeeded at this have any tips?

MW April 22, 2021 (11:32 am)

https://www.solvhealth.com/public-health–seattle–king-county-kent-wa-A27zwpIf you’re able to drive to Kent there are appointments for Pfizer on Sunday. I believe priority is for South King County residents but my husband drove his mother and her neighbor there yesterday (they live in Kent, we don’t) and the staff told him any King County resident is fine. Best of luck!
jason April 22, 2021 (12:53 pm)

Signed my son up on Monday (city run sites), got notified yesterday and he is scheduled for his first Pfizer tomorrow afternoon.
Aaron April 22, 2021 (3:17 pm)

If you are willing to drive for a couple hours there are appointments available Friday (Tomorrow) at Island Drug in Oak Harbor. Tons on Tuesday too. They add next weeks to the schedule on Fridays. Check their website.

SS April 22, 2021 (8:35 pm)

Check the city run site on Thistle. I got my son an appointment for Saturday. I scheduled it two days ago, and at that time there were a lot of appointments available.

Lisa April 22, 2021 (8:52 pm)

How can we simultaneously be “close to turning the corner” and also “seeing the beginning of a fourth wave?”

It’s exactly this kind of mixed messaging that creates confusion, polarization and fear.

WSB April 22, 2021 (9:05 pm)

Watching/listening to all these briefings at all levels … I would say the attempt is to say “it’s rising but we still have the ability to stop it” and that if it was stamped back down, that would be a corner-turning. It is really difficult messaging to finesse, though.

Sorry, comment time is over.