Insurance, health services and even a game to sharpen your preparedness skills
Published 1:30 am Thursday, February 22, 2024
Vashon COVID: Continued Strong Results, But Not Zero Risk
As almost everybody can attest, COVID is still around on Vashon.
Most of us know somebody or even several people who have tested positive in the last month or two. So, the risk of COVID for Vashon residents is not zero.
However, there’s some positive news to report. Vashon continues to do substantially better than King County as a whole. Since the beginning of November, King County has documented an average of three COVID hospitalizations per 100,000 population per week. In that same period, only one Vashon resident has been hospitalized for COVID. In other words, Vashon’s COVID hospitalization rate has been less than one-fourth of the county’s rate.
“There are several reasons why this might be happening, but two seem important to point out,” said Vashon Medical Reserve co-coordinator Dr. Jim Bristow. “First, our seniors have stepped up to get vaccinated at an extraordinary rate. More than 95% of Vashon’s 65+ population has been vaccinated with the updated COVID vaccine released in the fall. Second, a recent study showed that the latest vaccine prevents infection in more than half of those who get the injection. That’s a one-two punch of protection for seniors, the age group at highest risk of serious COVID illness.”
Prepare in a Year: Progress Check!
Last week we started our Prepare in a Year campaign. The first monthly project was household communications.
- Designate a Point of Contact
- Make Contact Cards
- Sign Up for Alerts
- How are you doing so far? Need to see the directions again? Here’s a link to that information.
Please take a minute to share what you learned and pass on your tips to your island neighbors by going here.
For example, here’s a note we got from an island grandma: “For filling out the contact card, I asked permission first, before handing out my friend’s phone number to others in my family. I took care to choose a point of contact who is likely to answer their phone or at least check messages frequently. In other words, pick a close friend or relative, not a person who is in touch infrequently. I printed copies of the contact card and handed them out to several friends and family members, including my elementary-age grandson.”
Enter the World of Disaster Mind
The folks at the FEMA office in Colorado have been fooling around in a really serious way.
They’ve produced a game to teach disaster preparedness, which can be found here. It’s no Fortnite, Minecraft, or Call of Duty. But Disaster Mind does a good job of challenging players to make good decisions quickly when seconds count, during a bad storm or a wildfire. The quest-style game is designed for high school students, but it can be helpful to people of any age. You might try it out for a family game night.
Department of Social and Health Services Van
The DSHS van will be on Vashon on March 7, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Methodist Church, 17928 Vashon Highway SW. You can apply for cash assistance, basic food assistance (EBT cards), medical assistance, and the Medicare Savings Program. You can also drop off paperwork, complete eligibility or certification reviews, or make changes to your case.
Low-Cost Health Insurance
Miguel Urquiza from Public Health – Seattle & King County, will be on Vashon again on Wednesday, March 20. Just drop in at the library between 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm. He’ll help you sign up for low-cost health insurance. If that timing doesn’t work for you, apply or renew online here.
You can also call or email Miguel Urquiza (Se habla español) at 206-477-6965 or 206-491-3761. Reach him by email at miguel.urquiza@kingcounty.gov.
