King County could get 150,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine this month

Public Health - Seattle & King County said it could get 130,000-150,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the year.

Dr. Jeff Duchin said they would only know for sure when it actually arrives.

He said 150,000 doses could be enough to vaccinate health care workers and residents in long term care facilities in King County.

Dr. Duchin says the health department needs to hire more employees to handle the vaccine distribution. They had expected financial help from the federal government that still hasn’t arrived.

“There are scores and scores of employees who are needed who haven’t been hired because of the lack of funding for the immunization program,” said Dr. Duchin on Friday.

The number of people getting COVID tests dropped over the last week, likely due to the holiday. Those tests that were conducted continued to have high positivity rates, according to Public Health.

Hospitalizations of COVID patients are at an all-time high in King County, and health officials say that could impact anyone who needs care.

“I continue to have the highest concern that anyone of us or our loved ones could not get the life-saving medical care we expect if we need it,” said Dr. Duchin.

Cox Media Group