COVID-19 Vashon Situation Report The Vashon Emergency Operations Center produces this briefing for our emergency workers and for the community. The situation report is published Tuesday and Friday and includes information on Vashon community response actions and support.

You can read the full text of today’s report as a PDF and access older ones at:
https://vashonbeprepared.org/News/SitReps

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Vashon Vaccine Availability: 

● Vaccination eligibility for Washington State currently includes those in tiers 1a and 1b1, including
pre-K to 12 educators and staff as well as licensed daycares workers. For full definitions of eligibility
visit https://www.doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/COVID19/Vaccine.
● The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) recommends that you check the following four websites to
see if there is updated information beyond what we compile in these Situation Reports, which are
published Tuesday and Friday.
● VashonBePrepared.org/COVID-Vaccine
● VashonPharmacy.com/covid
● SeaMar.org/covid-vaccine
● VashonNaturalMed.com
● The Overview: Vaccination availability for next week will be low, working from stocks of vaccine left
over from the past week, although commitments for second doses will be taken care of by both of the
active vaccinators on the island. Both operations have been able to vaccinate a large percentage of
newly eligible education employees this week.
● Educators/Child Care Workers: By the end of this weekend nearly 300 teachers, paraeducators and
other staff of schools and licensed child care facilities on Vashon will have received their first dose of
vaccine. That’s the rough total of doses administered since last Saturday and scheduled for
appointments through tomorrow at the Sea Mar clinic and Vashon Pharmacy drive-through. That total
has been possible because Vashon’s 1b1 tier vaccination progress is very high, leaving extra vaccine
doses available to help cover the needs of the education and child care community. When the news
broke on Tuesday night that educators were being added to the 1b1 eligibility group, the EOC worked
with Vashon Pharmacy to quickly notify schools and childcares, and to design a special appointment
system for them. Since then, a steady stream of education and childcare employees have been served
at the drive-through site, brought in by outreach to the School District, Harbor School, Vashon
Wilderness Program, Camp Sealth, Camp Burton and perhaps a dozen others. As previously reported,
Sea Mar clinic got a head start last Saturday by opening up to administer doses that were going to
expire and in danger of being wasted. Sea Mar received another batch of vaccines yesterday and
virtually all of them went to educators.
● NOTE: New eligibility and dates have been announced for vaccination tiers 1b2 through 1b4. See
details below.
● Overall Vaccination Progress: The data dashboard compiled by Public Health — Seattle and King
County (PHSKC) shows more than one-third of the island’s population over age 16 has received at
least one dose of vaccine. According to the PHSKC tabulation, almost 97% of seniors aged 65 and
over have received at least one dose. Other areas of King County are beginning to catch up with
Vashon but their vaccination rates remain far below the comparable statistics for Vashon.
● Vashon Pharmacy: The Pharmacy does not expect to receive any new vaccine doses next week,
likely because the vaccination rate on Vashon has climbed to a very high level for the currently eligible
group and vaccine doses are being allocated to other areas instead to help them catch up. The drivethrough operation at the Pharmacy has enough doses to fulfill second dose needs and will also be
continuing to vaccinate educators through early this coming week using existing stock.
● Sea Mar at Sunrise Ridge: The clinic at Sunrise ridge currently has no plans to hold any public
vaccination clinic in the coming week but Sea Mar has been receiving small batches of vaccine on an
irregular schedule, so that could change.
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Current Virus Statistics:
Vashon Island COVID-19 Case Count as of 3/5/21:*
● 108 confirmed positive COVID-19 cases, 2 new cases since last Situation Report on Tuesday
● Date of last positive test: March 3
● 2 new positives in past 7 days and 4 positives in the past 14 days
● 3 people have been hospitalized. Date of last hospitalization: December 28
● 3 Vashon deaths per the King County dashboard, last death reported 2/27/21
King County COVID-19 Case Count as of 3/5/21:*
● 82,363 confirmed positive cases, 455 new since last Situation Report on Tuesday
● 1,412 deaths, 13 new since last Situation Report on Tuesday
Washington State COVID-19 Case Count as of 3/3/21:*
● 343,090 confirmed positive cases, 2,382 new since last Situation Report on Tuesday
● 5,032 deaths, 63 since last Situation Report on Tuesday
*Note 1: The statistics above are from the Public Health – Seattle & King County dashboard as of the date listed.
Numbers may not be complete, as data processing lags and the actual number of cases, hospitalizations, and
deaths may not yet match the dashboard.
Note 2: The federal HIPAA Act prohibits Public Health – Seattle & King County (PHSKC) from releasing the names
of patients. For consistency of day-to-day data reporting for Vashon, the EOC uses only the ZIP code data from the
Public Health – Seattle & King County dashboard.
Health Tips:
● Now that the COVID-19 vaccination rollout has started to pick up steam, many of us are looking
forward to having increased protection against the virus – and getting back to a more normal
semblance of daily life. But what will normal look like going forward? The Centers for Disease Control
(CDC) is saying that we should continue to wear face masks, follow social-distancing guidelines and –
of course – continue to wash our hands frequently and practice good sanitation. “I understand the
need to want to get back to normality, but you’re only going to set yourself back if you just completely
push aside the public health guidelines — particularly when we’re dealing with anywhere from 55
[thousand] to 70,000 infections per day in the United States,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. While tens of thousands of Americans are
infected with the coronavirus each day and more research suggests variants threaten another surge,
some state leaders are loosening Covid-19 restrictions against the recommendations of health experts.
According to Dr. Fauci, masks are going to be around “for a while, because you really want to make
sure that the level of virus in society is so low, that the risk is truly minimum,” he revealed. “And in fact,
maybe miniscule.” https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/dr-fauci-just-said-how-long-youd-haveto-wear-your-mask/ar-BB1ehCqN
● Masks work to reduce transmission of COVID-19 virus. In counties where the state requires
masks, Covid-19 case and death rates slow down, and in counties where states allow indoor
restaurant dining, case and death rates appear to speed up, according to a new study from the US
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mandating masks was associated with a decrease in
daily COVID-19 case and death growth rates within 20 days of implementation. Allowing indoor
restaurant dining was associated with an increase in daily COVID-19 case growth rates 41–100 days
after implementation and an increase in daily death growth rates 61–100 days after implementation.
The study supports the benefits of mask mandates and restricting any on-premises dining at
restaurants to help limit community transmission of COVID-19 and reduce case and death growth
rates. These findings can inform public policies to reduce community spread of COVID-19.
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7010e3.htm
3
New Developments since Last Report:
● Gov. Jay Inslee and the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) have set dates for moving
to the next phases of COVID-19 vaccine eligibility. Vaccine supplies have been tight but DOH is
seeing federal vaccine allocations increase each week. The Governor and DOH anticipate that the
allocation to the state will support the new timeline. These dates are tentative and subject to change
based on vaccine supply and demand.
● Phase 1A and 1B1 are currently open and have been expanded to include educators and staff.
● Phase 1B2 will open on March 22 for all critical workers in certain congregate settings and people
age 16 or older who are pregnant or have a disability that puts them at higher risk.
● Phase 1B3 will open April 12 for people with 2 or more comorbidities age 50 or older, and expand
to persons 16 and older with 2 or more comorbidities on April 26.
● Phase 1B4 opens to people who live in congregate housing, and staff and volunteers who work in
congregate settings not covered in 1B tier 2
https://www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Documents/1600/coronavirus/VaccinationPhasesInfographic.pdf
(3/5/21)
● Gov. Jay Inslee announced the authorization of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine by the
Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup. “The Workgroup’s authorization gives us further
confidence around the safety and efficacy of the J & J vaccine,” Inslee said. “Like the other two, this
vaccine offers strong protection against serious illness from COVID-19, which is critical in our fight
against this deadly virus. “With the delivery of the J & J vaccine this week, and overall increase in the
number of vaccine doses coming to Washington, we have increased our capacity to get vaccine to all
parts of the state. We are making good progress on vaccination rates, and this third vaccine will help
our efforts to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible.”
https://www.governor.wa.gov/sites/default/files/Governors%20Statement%20from%20Scientific%20Sa
fety%20Review%20Workgroup%20JanssenFinal030221.pdf (3/5/21)
● Washington State Department of Health expects the first shipment of Johnson & Johnson COVID19 vaccine in the coming days. Our state allocation will be slightly over 60,000 doses of the one-shot
vaccine. However, manufacturing is still just ramping up and DOH does not expect any additional J &
J vaccine until the end of the month. For more about the J & J vaccine, visit
https://medium.com/wadepthealth/a-new-covid-19-vaccine-is-almost-here-74d89db70247 (3/5/21)
● Washington State has had more than 5,000 deaths from COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
Gov. Jay Inslee issued a statement “As we recognize the loss of 5,000 Washingtonians to COVID-19,
let us both mourn for the families who have lost loved ones and be thankful for the Washingtonians
who have pitched in to prevent further passing. ….. At the same time, it is fitting and proper to be
thankful for the efforts of our citizens to fight COVID-19. Our residents have kept each other safe. If
we had suffered the same death rate as other states, such as South Dakota, we would be mourning an
11,000 additional Washingtonians right now. Washingtonians do right by each other. We will continue
to do all we can to help reduce infections, hospitalizations and deaths, so that more Washingtonians
can emerge from this pandemic to enjoy healthy lives.” https://apnews.com/article/health-washingtoncoronavirus-pandemic-jay-inslee-2b6d478b8e84d2af982605169818a0ab (3/5/21)
● The Veterans Administration (VA) is offering COVID-19 vaccine to Veterans already
receiving care from the VA. Veterans of the Puget Sound who are enrolled in the VA system —
no matter their age, health or living situation — can now get a COVID-19 vaccine at VA Puget
Sound Health Care Systems facilities. VA Puget Sound is proactively contacting eligible
Veterans to make vaccine appointments when it is their turn. Vaccines are administered by
appointment only, no walk-in vaccinations will be accepted. Veterans now eligible to receive a
vaccine may call 206-716-5716 to schedule a vaccination, or contact their primary care team.
The VA COVID Vaccine Hotline, 206-277-4040 (recorded message only), is updated daily with
current vaccine scheduling. Veterans who are not enrolled or do not currently receive care at
VA can visit VA’s Eligibility web page to learn more at https://www.va.gov/health-care/eligibility/
(3/5/21)
4
● Creating Strength, the island-wide resilience campaign, aims to help all of us become stronger
against the stresses of the pandemic, which ripple outwards into related personal crises such as
unemployment, housing and food insecurity, racial injustice, isolation, and political unrest. This week’s
feature focus is on ‘Hope’. This nine-week campaign of mental health communications and videos is
produced by VashonBePrepared’s Community Care Team, which is a unit of the Medical Reserve
Corps, with support from the EOC’s Community Engagement Team. Mental health tips and videos are
available online at: https://VashonBePrepared.org/CreatingStrength (3/5/21)
● The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) wants to support the safe reopening of
buildings that may have been closed for an extended period of time due to COVID-19 related
restrictions. Stagnant water conditions during the COVID-19 may increase risk of exposure to
bacteria. Guidance for safe building reopening at
https://www.doh.wa.gov/Newsroom/Articles/ID/2658/Reminders-for-safe-building-re-openingsafter-COVID-19-closures (3/5/21)
● The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) has increased its capacity to identify
new strains of COVID-19. Both the B.1.1.7. and B.1.351 variants identified in Washington state
were detected during routine genome sequencing. The equipment DOH has purchased
includes next-generation genome sequencing tools. “This is a vital tool in quickly identifying
virus mutations so that important public health decisions can be made to protect the health and
safety of all those in Washington state.” said Dr. Scott Lindquist, Acting State Health Officer
and State Epidemiologist for Communicable Diseases:
https://www.doh.wa.gov/Newsroom/Articles/ID/2659/Washington-State-Department-of-Healthprovides-next-generation-genome-sequencing (3/5/21)
Progress on Community Support Operations:
● Emergency Operations Center (EOC): The EOC and other elements of our island emergency
response coalition were activated in response to the pandemic emergency on March 12th, 2020. That
was 11 months and 22 days ago (359 days). Four operational priorities established by the Incident
Commander, Fire Chief Charlie Krimmert, and approved by the VashonBePrepared Board, continue to
guide our work: health, food security, housing security and economic recovery.
● Vaccination Operations: A major change in vaccination group eligibility and a forecast improvement
in vaccine supply has been driving a series of action steps in anticipation of a coming need to maintain
and potentially increase vaccination capacity.
● Expansion of group 1b1 to educators and staff at licensed child care facilities required adjustments
in the Vashon Pharmacy drive-through vaccination appointment portal, and an outreach program to
help the new 1b1 group members access it.
● Forward planning has begun for a major increase in vaccination demand now that Governor Inslee
has announced future dates for vaccine eligibility and supply, beginning with a move to group 1b2
on March 22, and continuing through April with the remaining members of phase 1b.
● Study of siting and traffic flow options continues in order to sustain the drive-through vaccination at
its current base, or possibly at a new site. Multiple factors are in play, including availability of a
parking area for checking in arriving patients, vaccine storage, potential increased throughput
capacity, and more.
● Preparations continue for a public education effort that will be aimed at reaching the hundreds of
island residents who will be entering vaccination eligibility for the first time over the next two
months.
● EOC Team/Community Care Team/Spiritual Resources Group: As the one year anniversary of our
activation approaches, several steps are under way to mark the milestone, including the Gratitude
Project to thank volunteers with community thank you cards, and a commemorative memento page to
be published in the Beachcomber newspaper.
● Situation Section/Public Information: Production is underway on the 44th edition of the special
Situation Report compilation that appears weekly in the Beachcomber

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