A drive-through COVID test site. (AP Photo / Virginia Mayo, file)
Executive Dow Constantine Announced Friday that King County will establish high-volume community vaccination centers.
Check out Washington’s COVID-19 vaccine phases
The hope is that the sites will be similar to the existing high-volume test sites the country already uses, and to ensure that “we hit the ground running when medical staff receive their doses.”
The province will try to cut some of the red tape that would normally form barriers to a plan like this, and instead pay the vaccine distribution sites directly from its own budget.
“We are not waiting for all the usual negotiations and contracts, but we expect to be compensated by the state and the federal government if we continue our vigorous response to public health,” Constantine said.
Initially, the focus will be on setting up sites in South King County, where COVID-19 cases are currently the highest in the region, while residents have an “alarming health difference”.
At this time, Seattle-King County Public Health expects the first sites to be operational by February 1st.
It comes in the wake of Washington state health officials announcing information on the next phase of vaccine prioritization.
Inslee government unveils ‘Healthy Washington’, a local reopening plan
The first phase, which began in December, includes high-risk health workers in health care settings, high-risk reactions, residents of long-term care facilities, and was recently extended to all other health care workers.
Michele Roberts, acting assistant secretary at the Washington State Department of Health, said Phase 1B will have multiple levels, the first of which will be 70 people over the age of 70, and people 50 or older in multigenerational households. Level B2 includes high-risk workers aged 50 and over who work in certain municipal areas: agriculture; food processing; grocery stores; K-12 teachers and school staff; childcare; corrections; prisons, prisons or detention centers; public transport; fire; law enforcement.