Gov. Inslee announces plan to ramp up pace of vaccinations as state moves into Phase 1B
After a slow start here and across the U.S., Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced changes to the state’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan and a new public-private partnership Monday to accelerate the pace of vaccinating.
The governor’s announcements expands who is eligible in Phase 1B, which starts immediately, and sets a goal of 45,000 vaccinations per day.
“Today we are announcing the start of what we think of as the second stage of our vaccination initiative,” Inslee said at a virtual press conference. “We are now moving from a limited number of Washingtonians to a rather broad scale, where mass vaccinations are now possible, called for, and are going to be implemented.”
The state is now in an expanded Phase 1B
The state is now in the first tier of Phase 1B of vaccinations, the governor announced, effective immediately, expanding eligibility beyond health care workers, first responders, and long-term care facility staff and residents.
People age 65 and older are now eligible for the vaccine, along with people over age 50 who live in multi-generational households. Lowering that age threshold to 65 from 70 years old aligns with recent federal guidance, officials say.
The expansion includes the age group of Inslee himself, who’s 69 years old. He said he and Trudi Inslee will get their vaccines in the “next several days,” saying he has “total confidence” in the vaccines and no concerns about he or his loved ones getting the shot.
The second tier of Phase 1B includes high-risk essential workers age 50 and older who work in some congregate settings such as agricultural workers, child care workers, and K-12 educators and staff who work at schools.
Populations included in the second Phase 1B tier, as well as the third and fourth tiers, will stay the same. But the governor said there will now be more flexibility — in part, people in the second tier of the phase will be eligible to get vaccinated once roughly half of people eligible in the first tier have gotten their shots.
A question on many residents’ minds: How will I know when it’s my turn? Many health care providers have plans to contact existing patients who are eligible, according to Dr. Umair Shah, the state Secretary of Health.
A “Phase Finder” tool from the Department of Health allows residents to find out if they’re eligible for a vaccine in Phase 1B. That tool will provide information on where doses should be available in a person’s area, according to officials, so they can then contact a provider. The Department of Health is working to include information on where the vaccine is on its website, as well, according to officials.
The governor urged patience, saying many more people are eligible for the vaccine than there are doses.
“We have over a million and a half people, as of this moment, who are eligible for this vaccine,” Inslee said. “And we are only receiving less than 10 percent of that in supplies (per week). So there is going to be inevitable frustration that we will have to steel ourselves to as we find out a way to deliver these vaccines as much as humanly possible.”
A public-private partnership the state’s calling the “Washington State Vaccine Command and Coordination Center” will start coordinating resources to get the vaccine administered as efficiently as possible, according to the governor.
The center will be led by the state Department of Health and will include “business, health care and labor leaders.” Partners involved in the effort include Kaiser Permanente, Starbucks, Microsoft, SeaMar, Costco, SEIU 1199 NW, UCFW 21, and the Washington State Nurses Association.
Some of the members’ responsibilities within the group are broadly mentioned in a Medium post from the Governor’s Office. For example, it says Kaiser Permanente will provide expertise for planning mass vaccination clinics and distribution to healthcare providers while Costco will help with vaccine delivery by pharmacies, and Microsoft will help with technology expertise and support.
Microsoft President Brad Smith said his company will work with local hospitals so they can administer vaccines to community members in a building on its campus, and that Microsoft will provide support staff.
Inslee said companies involved in the effort will not profit financially from the effort.
New requirements for vaccine providers
To make sure providers are using the vaccines quickly, the state will now require 95% of future allocated doses be administered within a week of when they’re received, according to Inslee. The data has to be submitted to the state within 24 hours.
“The state has given them doses, we need them to hustle up here,” Inslee said. “So, we have created a legal requirement that they provide these to Washingtonians within a week. They’ll need to hew to that, and I believe they can,” adding that the state has volunteers ready to help along with the National Guard.
While he’s confident providers will meet the requirement, he said any that don’t may not receive further doses or may receive a more limited allotment.
Every dose already allocated before this week has to be given by Jan. 24, according to the governor. By Tuesday, all vaccine providers across the state are expected to provide information daily on vaccines administered and plans for using remaining doses.
New mass vaccination sites
The state is setting up new mass vaccination sites with help from the National Guard.
Four will start administering vaccines next week, Inslee said, at the Spokane Arena in Spokane, the Benton County Fairgrounds in Kennewick, Town Toyota Center in Wenatchee, and the Clark County Fairgrounds in Ridgefield.
Allocations from the federal government next week will go to those sites; existing sites under development in Snohomish, King, and Pierce counties; pharmacies; and local clinics so they can start on 1B vaccinations.
The state Department of Health is coordinating volunteer “vaccinators” to support vaccinations in Spokane, Kennewick, and Bellevue, according to the governor’s office and will “assess where additional assistance is needed” to meet the new requirements.
Goal: 45,000 vaccinations per day
The state aims to reach 45,000 vaccinations each day statewide as soon as possible, according to the governor. That’s more vaccine doses than the federal government currently allocates for Washington state — the state is getting about 100,000 first doses of vaccine each week, according to Michele Roberts, the state Department of Health’s acting assistant secretary.
“Over the next several months we will be building towards that capacity, starting today,” Inslee said. The goal is ambitious, he said, but the other developments announced Monday would put the state in a position to approach it.
He expects the state to receive increased doses in coming months.
The state had administered 294,386 vaccines as of Jan. 16, according to Health Secretary Shah, while a total of 696,075 doses had been delivered to the state — so, about 42 percent of the vaccines allocated have been administered. That’s at a minimum, Shah emphasized, because there’s a lag in data reporting from providers.
The most recent, complete state data on daily doses administered is from Jan. 6 and shows that the number of vaccines administered that day was just under 12,500. Shah said the average last week was about 14,000 per day, roughly matching how many doses are coming into the state.
In an interview with The Seattle Times last week, Shah said his goal is to vaccinate 70 percent of Washington’s population that’s 16 years old and older. By fall, he said his goal is to have enough adults vaccinated so kids can go back to school in-person safely.
Inslee on Monday referenced a New York Times article that includes a striking statistic: Washington state recorded 37 of the first 50 U.S. deaths due to the new coronavirus, but now ranks 44th in the nation in deaths per capita. If the rest of the country had a similar rate, there would have been 220,000 fewer deaths, the article reads. As of mid-day Tuesday, the U.S. had surpassed 400,000 coronavirus deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
While sobering, Inslee thinks that should give the state confidence in its ability to successfully improve the vaccination effort.
This story was originally published January 18, 2021 at 3:04 PM with the headline "Gov. Inslee announces plan to ramp up pace of vaccinations as state moves into Phase 1B."
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