SEATTLE — Millions of shots are now in the arms of Washington residents. There are millions more to go. And the good news is that there is proof that the vaccine is working.
“The proportion of cases (aged) 65 and over declined 40% over the past two weeks," said Dr. Jeff Duchin who leads the Seattle - King County Public Health.
That's the group who have been eligible for vaccines for several months. About 40% of adults aged 65 and older in Washington state have been fully vaccinated, and 66% have had at least one shot, according to the state Department of Health.
However, in King County the age group most affected has shifted downward, Duchin said.
“And now, about 60% of our cases are in the 18- to 49-year-old, and 34% in the 18- to 39-year-old range,” Duchin said.
But now, with more virulent variant strains of the disease such as the one from the U.K. that spreads faster and can do more damage, his growing fear is with younger people, who likely will have to wait until May before being eligible for the shots.
He says up to a third of younger people can become long haulers, those with symptoms like brain fog or having lost their sense of smell that lasts for months, if not permanently.
The vast majority have not had access to the vaccine. According to the state, about 17% of people aged 35 to 49 have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine, as have 11% of people aged 20 to 34.
Duchin said there hasn’t been an outbreak in a nursing home in two weeks, but a significant portion of those over 65 years old — about 33% — still need to begin getting the shot, as well as younger demographics.
President Joe Biden says he wants to make vaccinations to all people starting on May 1, and the state’s department of health Is expecting to go from 345,000 doses each week allocated by the Federal government in March, to 600,000 doses a week in April.
Right now, Michelle Roberts, who heads the inoculation program for state DOH, says even the 345,000 doses is still at least 100,000 doses short.
Can the state’s most populated county distribute its share come April? Dr. Duchin said he believes King County can.
“We do have good capacity to distribute vaccines in King County. We can probably distribute three times as many as we’re currently administering today. So when those doses become available, we’ll be able to get them out,“ he said.