The Vashon Emergency Operations Center produces this briefing for our emergency workers and for the community. The situation report is published Tuesday and Friday and includes information on Vashon community response actions and support.

You can read the full text of today’s report as a PDF and access older ones at:

https://vashonbeprepared.org/News/SitReps

Sign up to receive these emails at www.VoiceofVashon.org/alertsignup

Spanish translations of each Situation Report are available.

Email: laguilarkir@gmail.com to receive them via email. 

La traducción del SitRep o Reporte de la Situación en la isla, está disponible en español. Pare recibir una copia por correo, pídala a: laguilarkir@gmail.com  

NOTICE: Vashon EOC is planning to move our activation to a Standby/Monitoring level on June 25th, as the state of Washington approaches full reopening. This Situation Report will be discontinued next Friday as part this status change. The VashonBePrepared.org website is being updated and will remain as a hub for COVID-19 resource information.

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Vashon Vaccine Availability:

The Overview: Vaccine supplies continue to be strong, and demand for vaccinations has eased, now that Vashon has reached the 90% mark of residents who have at least one dose of the vaccine. Vaccination is easily available on island Monday through Saturday by going to either of the island’s two vaccination locations, Sea Mar clinic or Vashon Pharmacy.

Achieving Full Protection: Vashonites continue to close the gap between first and second doses of vaccine. About 76.5% of Vashon residents have now completed their full course of vaccination, leaving a gap of 13.5% where residents have not yet acted to get their second dose of vaccine, according to the data dashboard operated by Public Health — Seattle & King County (PHSKC). Full vaccine protection requires two doses for most people on Vashon, where the primary vaccine types have been Moderna or Pfizer. (The small number who received the Johnson and Johnson vaccine achieved full protection with only a single dose.) See below for details on getting your second dose of vaccine at Vashon Pharmacy or Sea Mar clinic. Bring your vaccination card for your second dose visit, so the vaccinators can be sure to give you the correct vaccine and check for proper spacing between your first and second dose.

Vashon Pharmacy Vaccinations: You can go to VashonPharmacy six days a week to get your first or second dose of vaccine. To save time, you are encouraged to go to VashonPharmacy.com/COVID to pre-register and make an appointment if you are going for your first dose. If you are going for a second dose of vaccine, you can make an appointment by calling the Pharmacy at (206) 463-9118. If you prefer, you may just drop in to the Pharmacy without an appointment. Pharmacy vaccination hours during the week are 10:00am to 12:30pm and 2:30pm to 6:00pm. On Saturdays, the hours are 9:00am to 12:00pm and 1:00pm to 4:00pm. Check first to see if vaccinations are being offered outside at the white vaccination tents at the rear of the Pharmacy, but almost all vaccination operations have now been moved inside the building.

Sea Mar Clinic Vaccinations: At the clinic on Sunrise Ridge, you can save time and a trip by making an appointment in advance, by calling (206) 463-3671. Drop-ins are welcome without an appointment, but making arrangements in advance may save you a wasted trip, since Sea Mar has been adjusting its operations to synchronize with the reduced demand for vaccinations. In order to avoid wasting leftover vaccine from the multi-dose vials, they are trying to concentrate patients into a few days a week. Sea Mar is open Monday through Friday.

Vaccination Free to All: All COVID-19 vaccinations are free to all. If you have insurance, you’ll be asked for your information so providers can recover the cost of administering the free vaccine, but there is no co-pay. If you do not have insurance, the cost is covered anyway and you will not be charged.

Current Virus Statistics:

Vashon Island COVID-19 Case Count as of 6/18/21:*

• 121 confirmed positive cases, 4 people have been hospitalized, 3 deaths
• Since the last report, Vashon has had 0 new cases
• 8,626 (90.2%) 12+ year-old residents have received one vaccine dose, and 77.5% received 2 doses

King County COVID-19 Case Count as of 6/18/21:*

• 106,777 confirmed positive cases, 247 new since last Situation Report
• 1,612 deaths, -4 new since last Situation Report, corrections made since last report
• 1,504,658 (77.1%) 12+ year-old residents have received one vaccine dose, and 69.6% received 2 doses

Washington State COVID-19 Case Count as of 6/17/21 (vaccination data as of 6/14/21):

• 446,682 confirmed positive cases, 1,527 new since last Situation Report 
• 5,820 deaths, 20 since last Situation Report
• 7,528,340 (65.2%) 16+ year-old residents have received one vaccine dose, and 58.5% received 2 doses

*Note 1: The statistics above are from the Public Health – Seattle & King County dashboard as of the date listed. Numbers may not be complete, as data processing lags and the actual number of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths may not yet match the dashboard.

Note 2: The federal HIPAA Act prohibits Public Health – Seattle & King County (PHSKC) from releasing the names of patients. For consistency of day-to-day data reporting for Vashon, the EOC uses only the ZIP code data from the Public Health – Seattle & King County dashboard.

Health Tips:

In about two weeks Washington State will go to full opening and the King County mask mandate for vaccinated persons will be lifted. Unvaccinated persons are strongly encouraged to continue to wear masks, until fully vaccinated. There are still some situations where masks may be required, such as public transportation, or if an employer or business requires mask usage.

So why continue to wear a mask? Mostly for self-protection, but also to prevent spread to children who are too young to be vaccinated, or persons that are immunocompromised. While the current vaccines provide a high level of protection, no vaccine is 100% effective. Data for the first five months of this year from Washington’s Department of Health show that 2,039 COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough cases have been identified in the state. Of these cases, 78% have reported symptoms, 10% have required hospitalization, and 36 people died of COVID-related illness. Unlike the original variant of the virus, more recent variants spread more quickly and tend to infect younger and healthier people. https://www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Documents/1600/coronavirus/data-tables/420-339-VaccineBreakthroughReport.pdf

New Developments since Last Report:

State epidemiologist Dr. Scott Lindquist has warned of the danger from the Gamma variant of COVID-19, first identified in Brazil. According to Dr. Lindquist, the Gamma variant is associated with higher hospitalization rates and increased breakthrough infections, and now accounts for 16% of the cases in Washington State — the fastest-rising variant in the state. Lindquist said vaccination remains key to protecting individuals from the virus and hindering “the spread of these dangerous variants.” In contrast to the Gamma variant, Dr. Lindquist reports the Delta variant is not leading to increased hospitalizations, deaths or breakthrough infections for those who have been vaccinated. https://www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Documents/1600/coronavirus/data-tables/420-316-SequencingAndVariantsReport.pdf  

Restrictions on nonessential travel at the U.S.-Canada land border has been extended until July 21. The restrictions, which have been in place since March 2020, have had limited impacts on trade and commerce. But they’ve split apart families, disrupted life in tightly knit border communities, and badly hurt the tourism industry in Canada, which is reliant on American visitors during the summer season. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that he wants 75 percent of Canadians to have a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, and at least 20 percent of them to be fully vaccinated, before easing the restrictions.

There are differences between the vaccination data displayed in the state’s Dept of Health (DOH) data dashboard and the vaccination data in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) COVID Data Tracker. These differences are important since the data is being used to determine if the state can reopen before June 30. That could happen if at least 70% of Washington residents 16 and older receive at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine before the June 30 date. The state’s data dashboard represents the most accurate information over which the department has control. There are a few reasons for the differences: 

• The state dashboard reports for people 16 and older, whereas the federal government reports for people 18 and up.
• DOH uses 2020 population estimates from the state Office of Financial Management, but the federal government uses 2019 census data.
• DOH includes 174,450 people who have initiated vaccination via the Department of Defense (DoD) and Veterans Administration (VA) in the current statewide total. The federal government gets data from DoD, VA, Bureau of Prisons, and potentially a few other sources that DOH cannot access.

https://www.doh.wa.gov/Newsroom/Articles/ID/2835/Washington-moves-closer-to-reopening-goal-as-678-of-people-16-initiate-vaccination 

Washington’s military members and veterans are getting a COVID-19 vaccine lottery of their own, Gov. Jay Inslee announced Thursday. These groups were not included in the current lottery because the Department of Defense does not share that data with the state. The lottery will begin July 20 and continue for three weekly drawings. Active-duty military and their family members will have to sign up to be included in the lottery. Meanwhile, vaccinated veterans and members of the National Guard won’t have to sign up because the Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Guard have agreed to give the state lottery random numbers that they have associated with vaccination records in their data. The Department of Defense will circulate a form for military members to fill out.

OSHA issues COVID-19 Healthcare Emergency Temporary Standard, applicable to emergency responders providing health care services. The COVID-19 Healthcare ETS is aimed at protecting workers facing the highest COVID-19 hazards—those working in healthcare settings where suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients are treated. This applies broadly to emergency responders and health care workers in any workplace setting where healthcare or healthcare support services are provided, with specific exceptions outlined in the standard. https://www.osha.gov/coronavirus/ets

Progress on Community Support Operations:

Emergency Operations Center (EOC): We are in the process of transitioning to Standby/ Monitoring level, a lower type of activation, responding to the ebbing of the pandemic, the successful vaccination effort on Vashon and the region, and signs of an economic recovery. Vashon’s emergency response was activated 15 months and one week ago (464 days). Our current operational priorities remain as health, food security, housing security, and economic recovery, as established by the Incident Commander, Fire Chief Charlie Krimmert, and approved by the VashonBePrepared Board.

Situation Report: Barring unforeseen developments, the EOC Situation Section will publish the final Situation Report of this activation on June 25, a week from today. The final Beachcomber Situation Report compilation will be published on July 1st.

VashonBePrepared.org: The website will continue to provide COVID-19 information so islanders will know where they can receive services, as the pandemic and our response continue to wind down. The contents of the COVID-19 resource page will be circulated to the Situation Report email list and other venues including social media.

MRC/Testing: A comprehensive guide to obtaining COVID-19 testing has been developed. It’s a combination of clinic-based tests and at-home self-administered tests. The testing guide will be included in the new COVID-19 information web page. The final day of operation of the Vashon Medical Reserve Corps testing site will be June 25.

EOC/MRC/Vaccination: COVID-19 vaccinations will continue to be available on island after the transition to Standby/Monitoring level. Both of the island vaccination sites, Sea Mar clinic and Vashon Pharmacy, have plans to continue providing island residents with local vaccination access.

VashonBePrepared/Vashon COVID Relief Fund: The final currently budgeted disbursement of the Relief Fund to our social service and economic recovery agencies will take place in the next few weeks. The VashonBePrepared Board will consider next steps for the Relief Fund in July.