A dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is administered at the Spokane Fire Department Training Center. YOUNG KWAK PHOTO
HEALTH
SLOW-MOTION SHOTS Why is it taking so long to give out lifesaving vaccines in Washington state? BY DANIEL WALTERS
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n average, 3,000 Americans are dying from the coronavirus every day. A new COVID strain first identified in the United Kingdom has added to California’s woes. Hospitals in Los Angeles County have been so overwhelmed that ambulances can’t take some heart attack victims to the emergency room. Washington state, however, has been one of the most successful states in slowing down the spread of the coronavirus. It went from the first state to be hit with the outbreak last March to the state with the fifth-lowest total number of cases today. Yet, when it comes to the drugs that could end the thing, restart our economy and restore our way of life, Washington has been slow out of the gates. By Friday, the Seattle Times reported, nearly 468,000 doses had been distributed in Washington, but only a third of those had actually been injected. Despite recent improvements, on Monday Bloomberg’s “vaccine tracker” ranked Washington state’s ability to get COVID shots into arms among the bottom third of the country.
8 INLANDER JANUARY 14, 2021
And while some heap blame upon federal failures of the Trump administration, state House Minority Leader J.T. Wilcox (R-Yelm) notes that Gov. Jay Inslee had nine months to plan for efficiently distributing COVID vaccines. “We should have a top 10 United States plan, not bottom 20,” Wilcox says. “We are one of the slowest states rolling this vital thing out at the same time as we are squeezing down parts of the economy.” The stakes, after all, couldn’t be more clearly a matter of life and death. “How would you feel if it was your grandmother who contracted COVID this week because she should have been vaccinated two or three weeks ago?” Wilcox asks.
“I was worried there wasn’t a sense of urgency,” Billig says. “Once I communicated with the Department of Health, there was absolutely a sense of urgency.” He says he emphasized that the Legislature would provide the department any funding necessary to complete the task.
“We are one of the slowest states rolling this vital thing out, at the same time as we are squeezing down parts of the economy.”
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he frustration has been bipartisan. Sen. Majority Leader Andy Billig (D-Spokane) indicated that he initially had some of the same concerns as Wilcox.
“Our Senate budget team has met with the Department of Health and conveyed the message that we do not want a lack of resources to be in any way a hindrance for vaccine distribution,” Billig says. “This is too important to have us delay in any way that’s preventable.” ...continued on page 10
