Seattle Fire mobile clinic brings vaccine to hard-to-reach seniors

SEATTLE — As Washington rushes to get the most vulnerable people vaccinated first, there is concern the vaccine’s protection will wear off as the virus mutates.

Moderna is already working to develop a booster shot for one of the COVID-19 variants. That was in mind for the Seattle Fire Department as they held a mobile vaccination clinic for low-income seniors living at Columbia Place in South Seattle.

The booster shot would provide further protection against the South African strain of COVID-19, which has not yet been found in the United States. Moderna and Pfizer have said early studies show their vaccines are slightly less effective against that strain.

But Seattle Fire says it has already started talking with public health about how they might roll out a Moderna booster if necessary.

“The conversation is happening and will continue to happen,” said Sarah Smith, the COVID-19 response coordinator for the Seattle Fire Department.

Experts like Dr. Deborah Fuller with University of Washington Medicine says the most important thing now is for people who are eligible to get the current this version of the shot and help slow the virus down.

“It really is a race between the virus and the vaccines,” Fuller said. “As there is more immunity in the population, the virus runs out of hosts to infect. In order to generate these variants, it has to replicate. If it doesn’t have as many hosts to replicate in, then we start to stop the evolution of the virus as well,” she said.

Getting shots in arms is exactly what Seattle Fire is focusing on. They’re using mobile vaccination clinics to bring the vaccine to seniors living in group homes and reach a population that is often low-income, and often has mobility and transportation barriers.

Seventy-three-year-old David Domineck says he was debating whether to get the shot, and that he heard about of all the trouble people are having even getting an appointment.

“Not knowing where you can get it, when you can get it,” Domineck said.

“I kind of tossed it around for two to three days and I said, well, the only thing that can change my mind is if they come here. And before I knew it, they said they were coming here,” Domineck said. “That made a big difference,” he said.

The existing vaccines have been shown to be equally effective against the UK variant, which is currently spreading in Washington.

On Tuesday, the first case of the Brazil variant was reported in Minnesota, in a resident there who had recently traveled to Brazil. The existing vaccines’ effectiveness is still unclear against the Brazil strain.

“They (the variants) are concerning. They’re alarming. But we only can control so much,” said Rod Brandon, director of operations for the Seattle Housing Authority. “If there is a booster shot, we’re going to be ready for that,” Brandon said.

Dr. Fuller says in the race against COVID-19, the virus is currently slightly ahead — but mRNA technology will ultimately give science the edge, because mRNA vaccines take just days to modify in the lab.

“So we can actually keep pace with the particular variants,” Fuller said. “I’m quite confident with these new types of vaccines we’re going to get ahead of the virus,” she said.

People who were getting their vaccines on Thursday say they’re just looking forward to their next shot.

“Yes, and feel free!” Domineck said.

The Seattle Fire Department says it has not wasted a single dose of its allocated vaccine. As with most groups administering the vaccine, however, another concern is supply.

“Every week we’re just waiting to see if we’re going to get our allotment to start our work,” Smith said.

Cox Media Group