Tax Day becomes Vax Day on Thursday when all WA residents 16 and older qualify for shots
Some 1.5 million people become eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations Thursday in Washington state.
“That is a tremendously important milestone in our state,” said Dr. Umair Shah, the state Secretary of Health (DOH), in a news media briefing Wednesday.
April 15 is normally Tax Day, but the federal tax deadline has been pushed back to May 17 by the Internal Revenue Service.
Now, it’s the day when everyone in the state age 16 and older is eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. But, that doesn’t mean everyone newly eligible can walk into the pharmacies and health care providers offering the vaccine and get jabbed.
“We still have the constrictions of vaccine supply,” Shah said. About 5 million Washington residents were already eligible for the vaccine and demand has been outstripping supply.
The appointment system nearly all providers are using will stay in place for now. Mass vaccination sites are increasing their hours, Shah said.
So far, 4.2 million doses of one of the three vaccines available have been administered in the state. That translates into 35% of the state population having had at least one dose. According to DOH, 22% of the population has been fully vaccinated.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is currently on hold as federal health authorities assess cases where blood clots formed in six women who received the vaccine.
Michele Roberts, who’s leading COVID-19 vaccine planning and distribution at DOH, said the J&J vaccine accounted for roughly 6% of the doses expected to arrive in the state this week and its hiatus should not greatly impact vaccine distribution.
Roberts said the state is expected to receive 365,000 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines next week.
Vaccinations versus fourth surge
Case numbers and hospitalization rates suggest the state could be on the verge of a fourth surge, officials said Wednesday.
Shah said there has been sharp increases in younger people becoming infected.
While achieving herd immunity against the coronavirus requires 70% of the population to be vaccinated, Shah couldn’t predict when that would be achieved.
“We are continuing to race against the clock when it comes to vaccines,” Shah said. The challenge, he said, is on the supply side.
“We’re talking about how fast we can go from 20 percent (vaccinated) to 70 percent,” said DOH’s Dr. Scott Lindquist. “That is dependent on vaccine availability.”
For now, he and others said, maintaining preventive behaviors like social distancing, mask wearing and hand washing is the most effective way to prevent a fourth wave.
“I know people are tired of doing this,” Lindquist said.
