Last year the very first confirmed case of COVID-19 was found in Snohomish County, putting Washington in the International spotlight. Since then, the Washington state has had over 280,000 confirmed cases and 3,940 deaths in total. In Kitsap County, alone there have been 4,765 cases with 54 deaths.
Washington state officials are now focused on speeding up the distribution of the two vaccines, indicating there is a light of hope and a sign which says “WE SHALL PREVAIL” at the very end of this long tunnel.
“It has been a long year, with, unfortunately, many lives lost, and so many people impacted,” said state health secretary Umair A. Shah, who was visiting Washington this month after his services in Texas.
On Jan. 18, the Washington state had distributed 335,836 doses of vaccines that number includes both first and second doses of vaccine — and had received 820,875 doses as of Jan. 20. And much more are on the way; the state expects 93,300 first doses and 142,625 doses from the federal government this week, said Michele Roberts, the leader of planning and distribution for the state Department of Health.
The COVID-19 vaccines regulated each day in Washington state have gone up slowly over the last seven days. Kitsap County officials have acknowledged that supply has yet to meet demand locally, and according to the DOH, 11,819 vaccine doses had been given here, but the state hopes to build up its infrastructure hopefully to give out 45,000 vaccine doses per day.
“We need to receive more than 300,000 per week,” Roberts said. “We are not getting that many yet, but we are working hard to build capacity to reach that goal.”
The Washington state is currently working toward regulating mass vaccination locations in Wenatchee, the Tri-Cities, Spokane and Ridgefield. It also plans to bolster efforts in populous Snohomish, Pierce and King counties that could help the state reach regulation 100,000 vaccine doses per day.
Shah expressed hope that change in leadership at the white house combined with the recently announced public-private partnerships with corporations and local health care districts would propel the state forward and get “more people vaccinated faster” because “that’s what we all want.”
The DOH website has also added to its COVID-19 dashboard with an updated number of Coronavirus vaccines regulated each day at the Washington state and county levels to help individuals track Washington state progress. “We do believe with the aggressive steps we’re taking … that we are going to continue to make progress,” Shah said.