VashonBePrepared Reports: Here’s What to Know This Week

Published 1:30 pm Tuesday, October 4, 2022

Editor’s note: A version of this report which includes Vashon’s latest COVID statistics can be read, in Spanish and English, at tinyurl.com/yan39zeh.

Omicron Booster Appointment Slots

This weekend will be the second high-volume community vaccination clinic for adults at Vashon High School.

More than 500 people got their boosters last weekend. In addition, a steady stream of people has been getting weekday vaccinations inside the store at Vashon Pharmacy.

Vaccinations at both locations are by appointment only. You can make a vaccination appointment online at VashonPharmacy.com/COVID-Vaccine. People without internet access can complete a paper form inside the pharmacy that is available in English and Spanish.

New appointment slots have been opened for coming weekends and the high-volume clinics will run for a limited number of weekends, based on community demand.

If the online appointment page is closed, keep checking back. New appointments are opened on a rolling basis, as vaccines are available. And don’t miss the checkbox for getting your seasonal flu vaccine at the same time.

Weekend Vaccination Clinics: Tips for Success

• Bring your paper CDC COVID vaccination card to your appointment. If you lost this card, bring other evidence of vaccination, such as your digital COVID immunization record from WAverify.doh.wa.gov.
• Children will not be allowed to enter the clinic, and daycare is not provided.
• Dress for outdoor temperatures. Clinic windows are kept open for air circulation and COVID safety.
• If you had COVID within 10 days of your appointment or have COVID-like symptoms on the day of your appointment, cancel your appointment at bit.ly/VaxCancellationForm and reschedule for a later date at VashonPharmacy.com/COVID-Vaccine.
• You will be provided with a new N95 mask that must be worn during your time at the vaccine clinic.

An Alphabet Soup of Varients: Winter Surge?

BA.4 and BA.4.6. BA.5 and BF.7 and BQ.1. BA.2 and BA.2.75.2.

All these are variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID. Several have been declared Variants of Concern (VOC) by the World Health Organization (WHO).

A recent newsletter from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security points out that one or more of these variants could emerge over the next six to eight weeks as drivers for this year’s winter surge of COVID infections.

Most experts agree there will be another winter COVID surge this year. This surge will likely be fueled by two main factors: new variants that get around immunity, plus changes in how people behave that make COVID spread more likely.

Kids head back to school, people move indoors as it gets colder, families travel for holiday gatherings, and these days many people are so tired of the pandemic they just don’t bother with basic COVID safety protections.

Recently, some new variants of the rapidly evolving virus have been gaining ground quickly. For example, BA.4.6, a sublineage of BA.4 that first appeared in late June, now makes up nearly 12% of new cases in the U.S.

Other newer varieties of the virus have been taking hold in Western Europe; that’s a concern because new variants typically move from Europe to the U.S. east coast and then spread west.

You can prepare for a possible winter surge now, by stocking up on masks and home antigen tests, keeping symptom relief aids on hand, and planning ahead before attending gatherings.

Report Your Test

There’s a new way to report your home COVID test result online, at bit.ly/ReportHomeCOVIDTest.

It’s still a good idea to also call the Medical Reserve Corps helpline at (844) 469-4554, where you can speak to a medically trained volunteer and get information on such things as quarantine, isolation, and antiviral treatment.

Island Boaters Train to Help Vashon’s Shoreline Neighborhoods

Around the Vashon shoreline, there are 26 neighborhoods that have one road or just a walking path for access. In the event of an earthquake or mudslide, those neighborhoods could be cut off, and unable to get help.

That’s where Vashon’s Marine Emergency Response Team (MERT) comes in. This group of Quartermaster Yacht Club volunteers formed six years ago to be a last-mile lifeline for isolated shoreline neighborhoods.

They have given each neighborhood a high-visibility sign so they can signal from shore their need for help (bright orange), or show they are fine (blue).

The crews of MERT member vessels can report status back to the Vashon Emergency Operations Center, deliver medicine, and generally be a vital link for emergency assistance to isolated shoreline neighborhoods.

Latest Vashon COVID Statistics

Source: Public Health — Seattle & King County (PHSKC) and Vashon Emergency Operations Center. New and historic case counts shown here reflect test results from the public health reporting system, which does not regularly capture results from home tests.

6 = New cases reported since the last weekly report (10 new cases in 14 days).

1,139 = Total reported COVID cases for Vashon residents since the pandemic began.

21 = Patients hospitalized since the pandemic began.

6 = Deaths since the pandemic began.

93.2% = Percentage of Vashon residents age 5+ who completed their primary vaccine series, compared to 86.9% of the King County 5+ population.

For King County, the PHSKC dashboard for the last 30 days says people who are not fully vaccinated are 1.8 times more likely to get COVID, five times more likely to be hospitalized for COVID, and 14 times more likely to die of COVID.

For more information, visit VashonBePrepared’s Facebook page, or visit its website at vashonbeprepared.org.