Department Directory

All by Alpha Assessor Assigned Counsel Auditor Board of Equalization Board of Health Boundary Review Board Budget and Finance Civil Service Commission Clerk Commissioners Coroner County Addressing District Court

District Court Probation Emergency Management Emergency Medical Services Facilities Management Fair Fairgrounds Fire Marshal GIS / Mapping Services Hearing Examiner Historical Museum Human Resources Jail Juvenile Court Law Library

Natural Resource Lands Noxious Weeds Parks & Recreation Planning & Development Services Prosecutor Public Defender Public Health Public Works Records Management Risk Management Sheriff Skagit21 Television Superior Court Treasurer Upriver Services

Welcome to Skagit County

September 22, 2021

COVID-19 Updates from Skagit County

Local COVID-19 Case and Hospital Data
Skagit has a total of 8,908 cases; an increase of 380 new cases since last Wednesday; Hospitalizations are at 517 total (increased by 16 since Wednesday), and 93 deaths. State and local rates continue to be extremely high. Skagit currently has a case rate of 617.1 per 100k over the last 14 days and a hospitalization rate of 13.8 COVID patients per 100k over the last seven days. Between 8/27 and 9/9, Skagit saw its 2-week case rate to date (630.1 per 100k over 2weeks).

Vaccination & Breakthrough Information
A total of 167,604 doses have been administered in Skagit County. We are now at 71.4% partially vaccinated amongst our population 12 years and older. Between September 11-18, 874 Skagitonians sought out their first dose.

WA Department of Health publishes weekly reports with helpful case, hospitalization, vaccination, and breakthrough data. These reports, and may others, can be found here.

Some major take a ways from these reports include:

Unvaccinated 12-34 year-olds in Washington are:

6 times more likely to get COVID-19 compared with fully vaccinated 12-34 year-olds.
30 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 compared with fully vaccinated 12-34 year-olds.

Unvaccinated 35-64 year-olds are:

5 times more likely to get COVID-19 compared with fully vaccinated 35-64 year-olds.
21 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 compared with fully vaccinated 35-64 year-olds.

Unvaccinated 65+ year-olds are:

4 times more likely to get COVID-19 compared with fully vaccinated 65+ year-olds.
9 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 compared with fully vaccinated 65+ year olds.
8 times more likely to die of COVID-19 compared with fully vaccinated 65+ year-olds.

The following graphs highlight the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines in protecting people against becoming critically ill with COVID-19, resulting in hospitalization. Other data like this can be found here.

Testing & Vaccination Options in Skagit County

Skagit County continues to operate a COVID-19 testing and vaccination site at the Skagit County Fairgrounds at 501 Taylor Street in Mount Vernon, Monday through Friday from 5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Services are free; no insurance or appointment is currently required.

At this time, people who live, work, or go to school in Skagit County are being prioritized at this site for testing. Antigen testing is limited to those 5+ who are symptomatic or have been recently exposed to COVID-19.

For a list of testing and vaccination providers, go to our website at www.skagitcounty.net/coronavirus.

Vaccine Boosters Update

Last week, the FDA’s vaccine advisory committee recommended booster doses of Pfizer vaccine six months after full vaccination for people 65 and older and those at high risk of severe COVID-19. This is just the first of several recommendations and approvals needed before booster doses can be administered.

The FDA still needs to approve the use of booster doses, then the CDC will weigh in. The CDC’s vaccine advisory committee will meet next Wednesday and Thursday (Sept. 22-23) to consider recommending booster doses.

In Washington, the recommendations and data on booster doses will also be reviewed by the Western States Scientific Safety Review Work Group. If that group approves the recommendations, then booster doses can begin to be administered in Washington state.

Currently, third doses of mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) are recommended for people who are moderately to severely immunocompromised. Third doses are not currently recommended for any other groups.

Monoclonal Antibody Therapeutic Treatment

You may have heard recently about Monoclonal Antibody Treatment in the news. Monoclonal Antibody Therapeutic Treatment can treat mild to moderate COVID-19 in adults and children 12 and older (must weigh at least 88 lbs.), who are at high risk for developing severe illness. Monoclonal antibodies are not authorized for pre-exposure prevention of COVID-19 and must be given within 10 days of getting symptoms to work best.

As of September 21, 2021, local supply of Monoclonal antibodies is extremely low, and is expected to remain so for two or more weeks. If you are seeking treatment, you will need to go through your health care provider for a referral. Please do not call local treatment providers or go to the emergency department for monoclonal antibody treatment.