Coronavirus updates: State passes 189k cases; first vaccine doses could come this month
Updated at 8:35 a.m.
The Washington state Department of Health reported 3,538 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 49 deaths Wednesday.
Pierce County reported 711 cases Wednesday and one new death. Pierce County has a total of 254 deaths likely caused by COVID-19 as of Wednesday, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 189,863 cases and 3,016 deaths, up from 187,091 cases and 2,941 deaths Tuesday. Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019. The DOH revises previous case and death counts daily.
Hospitalizations continue to increase with 113 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 admitted to Washington state hospitals on Nov. 20, the most recent date with complete data. Preliminary data indicates average daily admittances were 106 in early December. Average daily hospitalizations previously peaked during the April surge at 78.
Approximately 12.5% (1,177) of all staffed adult acute care hospital beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients on Wednesday. In the state’s intensive care units, 25.1% (294) of staffed adult beds were occupied by suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients.
On Nov. 28, the most recent date with testing data, 13,168 specimens were collected statewide, with 15.8% testing positive. The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 15.6%. More than 3.2 million tests have been conducted in Washington.
The test numbers reflect only polymerase chain reaction tests, which are administered while the virus is presumably still active in the body.
King County continues to have the highest numbers in Washington, with 50,841 cases and 944 deaths. Spokane County is second, with 20,024 cases. Snohomish County has the second highest number of deaths at 319.
All counties in Washington have cases. Only four counties have case counts of fewer than 100.
For the past seven days, Washington had a case rate of 38.1 per 100,000 people. The national rate for the same period is 61.8 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rhode Island has the highest rate in the United States, at 123.8. Hawaii is the lowest, at 6.5.
There have been more than 15.3 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 289,188 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Wednesday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has the highest number of reported cases and deaths of any nation.
More than 1.5 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 68 million.
Washington state Department of Health says first vaccine doses could come this month
Updated at 8:35 a.m.
Updated estimates from the federal government indicate Washington state could receive enough COVID-19 vaccine this month for 400,000 people to receive their first dose, according to state health officials.
That total includes estimates for vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, both of which have applied for emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee is scheduled to review Pfizer’s vaccine Thursday and Moderna’s next week. If approved, they have to go through an extra layer of vetting by a vaccine workgroup as part of the Western States Pact. State health officials have said that should happen in a day or two while the vaccine is processed and delivered.
The latest estimates from the federal government are that Washington will receive 62,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine in an initial allocation next week and a total of 222,000 by the end of December — 22,000 more than originally estimated. The state also expects about 180,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine by the end of the month.
Michele Roberts, who’s leading the COVID-19 vaccine planning and distribution team at the state Department of Health, shared the updated estimates at a virtual media briefing Wednesday. The numbers are similar to, but vary a bit from numbers Secretary of Health John Wiesman provided at a press conference Tuesday.
The first group who will get the vaccine are high-risk health care workers, as McClatchy previously reported, along with residents and staff at long-term care facilities. There are an estimated 300,000 health care workers that fall in the high-risk category.
The initial 400,000 would represent individuals’ first doses, Roberts explained at the briefing. Pfizer’s vaccine requires two doses three weeks apart, and Moderna’s requires two doses four weeks apart.
The state hasn’t received an estimate for how many doses will be included in regular shipments that are expected to begin in January, Roberts said. But, she said it will take months for there to be enough vaccine for everyone who wants to be vaccinated.
Next week, the first doses will go to 17 sites spread across 13 counties, according to Roberts, who later confirmed there are doses going to King and Pierce counties in response to a reporter’s question.
She did not share specific information about the facilities, and said officials won’t share details beyond the county and number of doses until the vaccine becomes available to more people. She cited security concerns, in part, when pressed by a reporter.
‘Degree of normality’ possible in late 2021 — if most people get vaccine, Fauci says
Updated at 8:35 a.m.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, said the U.S. could see “some degree of normality” by late 2021 if a majority of people get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Fauci said the country could get closer to “normality” if 75-80% of the population is vaccinated and a level of herd immunity is achieved.
“If we do that, I believe if we do it efficiently enough over the second quarter of 2021, by the time we get to the end of the summer, i.e. the third quarter, we may actually have enough herd immunity protecting our society that as we get to the end of 2021, we could approach very much some degree of normality that is close to where we were before,” Fauci said in an interview with CNN’s Sanjay Gupta on Wednesday.
Herd immunity is when enough of a population becomes immune to a disease through vaccine or getting sick to make the spread between people in the community unlikely, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Fauci’s comments come as Pfizer and BioNTech will have their COVID-19 vaccine reviewed Thursday and the committee will vote on whether the FDA will authorize the vaccine for “emergency use authorization”
Moderna will have its vaccine go through the same process next week, with its review before the FDA committee scheduled for Dec. 17.
Fauci said that Moderna’s vaccine has shown nearly 100% efficacy in preventing COVID-19 effects in trials but it’s not yet clear if it protects against future infection.
“What we don’t know right now is the degree to which it prevents you from getting virologically infected,” Fauci said.
Pfizer said early results showed its vaccine has an efficacy rate of more than 90%, while Moderna said that its vaccine’s efficacy is 94.5%, The New York Times reported.
This story was originally published December 10, 2020 at 8:44 AM.
