District 1 Seattle City Councilmember Lisa Herbold offered this update on vaccination availability for West Seattle in her news letter to constituents

Between the West Seattle bridge closure, significant congestion on detour routes off the peninsula, and limited access to the lower bridge, District 1 residents are virtually cut off from vaccine and healthcare providers.  And District 1 residents – especially those 65 and older - are lagging behind other parts of the city in accessing vaccine, according to Public Health – Seattle & King County’s data dashboard:

I’m grateful to District 1 organizations like Villa Communitaria and the Senior Center of West Seattle, which have been doing essential work in identifying and bridging the additional barriers that are keeping the people they serve from getting vaccinated - such as registration that’s only available online, or only in English.   Both organizations, along with El Comite and Seattle Housing Authority, participated in a City-run District 1 vaccination popup clinic that I visited this past week in West Seattle with Mayor Durkan, which is vaccinating 750 eligible local residents in the Latinx community and vulnerable elders.   You can watch our remarks here.

District 1 Vaccine Locations:  As I’ve written before, the City is planning for a District 1 mass vaccination site with an initial capacity to provide 500 doses daily, eventually ramping up to 1,000 doses daily, hopefully by the summer.  Unfortunately, the City is not yet receiving enough vaccine to support any mass vaccination sites.  Once supply from the state increases, the City will open the D1 mass vaccination site within two days.  Sign up here to receive a weekly vaccine newsletter from the City.

Across the County, an estimated 473,000 residents are now eligible to receive the vaccine – but County vaccine providers have only received 275,000 first doses.  In the short term, the state is expected to reserve a higher proportion of vaccine for those who need their second dose within the appropriate timeframe.  This means that over the next few weeks, supply will remain very tight.  As the federal government slowly increases shipments to the states, and begins providing vaccine directly to pharmacies and community health clinics, it will become easier to find a vaccine appointment over the next few months.

I am continuing to advocate to add more vaccine providers in District 1, so that when vaccine supply improves, our unique mobility barriers from the West Seattle Bridge closure do not get in the way of receiving vaccination.