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Those eligible. The covenants. The happy.
Late Thursday night, a report spread across the city that one of the COVID-19 emergency vaccination events had taken place here in Seattle.
A freezer failure. A 5:30 a.m. Expiration. The rush to dispense more than 1,000 doses.
Just after 11pm on Thursday, officials from the Swedish health system has its community vaccination clinic at Seattle University got underway quickly after closing earlier this week due to a lack of supply. “URGENT: We have 588 DOSE 1 MODERNA appointments available 28 January 23:00 to 29 January 02:00,” reads the message. The race was to book an appointment.
Hundreds and perhaps thousands stood in vast crowds there and at the times YOUR Medicine which was also activated for the emergency vaccination attempt. In total, about 1300 doses were at risk.
URGENT: We have 588 DOSE 1 MODERNA appointments available 28 January 23:00 to 29 January 02:00 Click on link to book. Click SHOW MORE for additional slots until 2am and select MORE. Must be Phase 1a or Phase 1B / Tier 1.. Https://t.co/gtVkBKb9va pic.twitter.com/w3bKmQqbHk
– Swedish (@Swedish) 29 January 2021
Initially, Sweden insisted that only those eligible in the first vaccination phase – health workers, 65 and older, 50+ living in multigenerational households – be eligible. But the message fluctuated throughout the night, spreading rumors that fitness and appointments did not matter.
Swedes announced later that evening that those with appointments would be vaccinated. Reports from the line outlined volunteers about the search for 65-year-olds and last-minute, mid-night success.
The Seattle Times reports that a freezer in the Kaiser system caused the urgent deployment, with officials turning to the single facilities, including the Seattle U-clinic that had already been set up and were ready to deploy at mass levels.
The last vials were spent somewhere around 3am.
Many of the older seekers are accustomed to early morning hours. Civil servants and local officials have struggled to achieve early vaccine deployment targets as the federal distribution system emerges under Biden’s government, and many of those eligible fall into a scramble to grab any available appointments if they come online.
Volunteers * just ran out to the street corner *, minutes before the final doses would expire, and vaccinated this 75-year-old woman who runs a daycare! Around 3:30 or so! Unreal pic.twitter.com/ZbnfxnrIK7
– David Ryder (@davidmryder) 29 January 2021
Seattle’s scenes of deployment of emergency vaccines follow other stories from across the country where medical teams and volunteers have worked against the chance to deploy shots if freezers fail or roads are blocked.
It also comes as the state has suddenly lowered the benchmark for reopening and social gathering, making its most populous region eligible for reduced restrictions from Monday, even though fears of a more virulent strain of the virus.
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