Final Day of Operations at West Seattle Vaccination Hub Will Be Wednesday, June 9, 2021
SEATTLE (May 21, 2021) – As Seattle surpasses 75.2% of residents who have begun their vaccinations and demand at West Seattle vaccination hub dramatically declines, Mayor Jenny A. Durkan today announced that the last day of operations at the Seattle Fire Department (SFD) West Seattle Vaccination Hub will be Wednesday, June 9, 2021. Washington state residents and workers will still have the opportunity to receive either their first or second dose at the hub through June 9. All patients who receive either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines will have the opportunity to schedule their second dose at another City of Seattle site. To-date, the City of Seattle has administered over 210,000 vaccinations since becoming a provider on January 14, and SFD has administered 48,135 at the West Seattle hub since it opened in late February.
“Our West Seattle Vaccination Hub has been an invaluable resource for our Delridge, South Park, and West Seattle communities. In just a few short months, we vaccinated tens of thousands of people at the hub, and helped set West Seattle – and our entire city – further down the road to recovery. We’re in a new phase of our vaccination efforts to meet people where they are at breweries, ball games, and schools,” said Mayor Durkan. “I’m incredibly grateful to the entire Seattle Fire team and our community partners who made the site such an important part of the West Seattle community. We’re able to reach this milestone because the vast majority of West Seattleites have been vaccinated, and we look forward to continuing our mobile efforts in West Seattle and throughout the city.”
SFD Mobile Vaccination Teams (MVT) will focus their efforts in West Seattle on in-school clinics and pop-ups. Last Saturday, the City hosted a pop-up clinic in partnership with the West Seattle Junction and vaccinated 93 people. The City will host in-brewery vaccination clinics in West Seattle in early June, and SFD will continue vaccinating students and families at eight schools in the West Seattle area as part of the in-school vaccination effort.
“The West Seattle site has been important to the City’s overall strategy for providing testing and vaccine access in the fight against the pandemic; but now, vaccines are more readily available through pharmacies and medical clinics,” said Seattle Fire Department Acting Captain Brian Wallace. “We have already seen a lot of success at reaching people through pop-ups at sporting events and through business partnerships. This shift allows us to invest more in these outreach efforts.”
The City is closing the West Seattle Vaccination Hub due to a significant drop in demand, as demonstrated in the chart below:
Even with a temporary surge when 12 – 15 year-olds became eligible to receive the Pfizer vaccine, demand at the West Seattle Vaccination Hub has been continuously dropping over the last month, and it no longer makes operational sense for SFD to continue staffing the hub.
Across West Seattle, nearly 80 percent of residents have started the vaccination process, and nearly 60 percent are fully vaccinated. This trend leads the national average, and West Seattle has some of the highest vaccination rates in King County.
Residents interested in non-City sponsored vaccination options can visit https://vaccinelocator.doh.wa.gov/ and search by their desired ZIP Code. There are currently multiple pharmacies and clinics in West Seattle with available appointments for all COVID-19 vaccines.
Since launching its vaccination effort on January 14, the City of Seattle has administered over 210,000 vaccinations to eligible adults (over 120,000 individuals). These vaccinations have occurred at 88 Adult Family Homes, 90 affordable housing buildings with seniors and people with disabilities, 24 pop-ups, 20 permanent supportive housing buildings, two vulnerable youth-serving organizations, city sporting events, and the four City-affiliated fixed vaccination sites. Approximately 46 percent of those vaccinated by the City identify as BIPOC communities.
For more information, including how to get vaccinated today, visit the City’s vaccination website at www.seattle.gov/vaccine. The site contains vaccination information in seven languages, and in-language assistance is also available over the phone. In addition, the City’s Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs (OIRA) recently launched a series of in-language helplines to answer questions and/or find vaccination opportunities for immigrant and refugee residents who are limited English proficient and/or have limited access to the internet. More information on the OIRA Vaccine Community Helplines is available here.
Please continue to follow all public health guidance, and visit this website from Public Health – Seattle & King County for more information.