Seattle ramping up COVID19 vaccination clinics this month
SEATTLE - Starting Monday, Seattle is opening two new vaccination sites.
The two Covid-19 vaccination sites will be at the Southwest Athletic Complex in West Seattle and Atlantic City Boat Ramp in the Rainier Beach neighborhood. Both locations currently offer, and will continue to offer, coronavirus testing as well.
The two locations will initially offer 1,000 shots per week available by referral only. The hope is to ramp those two locations up to giving out 1,000 shots per day.
A mass vaccination clinic at the Lumen Field Event Center in SoDo is also on the horizon. That clinic would offer 5,000 shots a week to start. But the hope would be it would be able to accomodate many more than that when vaccine supplies become available.
The ideal number would be up to 150,000 shots per week, and the timeline for the Lumen Field Events Center location would be mid-March.
Seattle Fire Chief Harold Scroggins tells Q13 News that they've been working to get city infrastructure in place to get shots in arms as soon as the supply of vaccines becomes available locally.
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"You have to trust the vaccines," says Chief Scroggins, saying that many firefighters and EMS personnel have already gotten the vaccine. "This is the light at the end of the tunnel to get the community back open."
Within the next few weeks, the city hopes to also roll out appointments at all three locations. The Lumen Field Events Center space would be open two days a week once vaccine supplies becomes available.
Vaccines in Washington State are still avaialble to those ages 65 and older, and those 50 and older who live in multi-generational households-- like grandparents with grandchildren.
We're expecting to get more details on the city's vaccination rollout news conference set for noon on Monday. You can watch it live below:
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