Free Coronavirus Vaccine Clinics Coming To King County

SEATTLE — King County will establish two coronavirus vaccine sites and stand up mobile teams to help speed immunization rates as the state moves into the next tiers of its vaccination plan, officials announced Friday.

King County Executive Dow Constantine announced a $7 million investment to launch the first two high-volume sites in south King county, which continues to suffer disproportionate impacts from COVID-19. Public health officials said both facilities will offer vaccinations free of charge, operating similar to the high-volume testing sites placed across the county.

"Public health estimates that 70 percent of all adults will need to be vaccinated for us to get this pandemic under control," Constantine said. "That's more than one and a quarter-million people, and it would take six months under a very aggressive plan that administers 16,000 vaccines each day to reach that goal."

Patty Hayes, the director of Public Health - Seattle & King County, said she was hopeful both locations could open as soon as Feb. The county also plans to deploy five "mobile strike teams," to visit long-term care facilities, senior centers, homeless shelters and other areas with limited access to health care.

"The new high-volume vaccination sites and mobile teams will ensure that we get shots to as many eligible people in the community as possible, particularly those who aren't connected to the health care system," Hayes said. "These sites will be critical in expanding access to underserved communities and areas of the county where we see higher incidence of COVID-19."

Constantine said the two high-volume sites will prove especially useful as the state enters the next eligibility tiers, expanding vaccine access to more older adults, teachers, bus drivers, grocery store employees and other essential workers. Public health officials are also looking at ways to partner with the city of Seattle, businesses and labor unions to help facilitate more opportunities for immunization.

The county expects to be reimbursed for the program by state and federal funding but said it was critical to act now to prevent potential bottlenecks.

"Since the first days of this terrible disease, we have been alone really, with our partners at the state and local levels," Constantine said. "We've been isolated because our federal government has not been there in the whole that it has historically played. We've come to expect almost nothing from the national government, but that will soon change."

Under Washington's Phase 1A, those currently eligible for vaccines are limited to workers in health care settings, frontline first responders, and residents and staff of long-term care facilities. The next phase, 1B, will arrive in four tiers through April. The first tier, which could begin by the end of January, will expand eligibility to all people ages 70 and older and people 50 and up who live in multigenerational households.

The state will formally launch its online Phase Finder tool later in the month, allowing the general public to determine their specific eligibility status and set alerts for when they can get vaccinated.

Read more about King County's community vaccination clinics on the Public Health Insider blog.