December 15, 2021
COVID-19 Updates from Skagit County
Local COVID-19 Case, Hospital & Vaccine Data
Skagit has a total of 13,245 cases; an increase of 174 new cases since last Wednesday. Skagit has a total of 781 hospitalizations (increased by 16 since Wednesday), and 145 deaths (increased by 6).
Skagit’s case rate is 339.6 per 100k over the last 14 days and our hospitalization rate is 12.3 per 100k over the last seven days.
A total of 211,936 doses have been administered in Skagit County. We are now at 77.1% partially vaccinated amongst our population 12 years and older, and 71.1% fully vaccinated amongst Skagitonians 12 and older.
Our case rates continue to decline relatively steadily, however Public Health fully expects a spike in cases over the next week or two due to the Omicron variant. For more information about Omicron, please see below.
Omicron Variant Update
At this time, the Omicron variant has not yet been reported in Skagit County, though it is pretty safe to assume that this variant is already spreading here in Skagit.
There is still a lot we don’t know about this variant. The CDC believes this variant likely spreads faster than other variants but is not yet sure if it spreads faster than Delta. We also don’t know if this variant causes more severe illness, or if it’s better at evading vaccine-derived or infection-derived immunity.
What we do know is that we still have effective prevention measures to protect us from severe illness and reduce the likelihood of infection: vaccination, boosters, and masks. More information about the Omicron variant can be found here: https://bit.ly/3yrKfrr
Vaccines remain the best public health measure to protect people from COVID-19, slow transmission, and reduce the likelihood of new variants emerging. To find yours, go to Vaccine Locator or call the COVID-19 Hotline at 1-800-525-0127, then press #.
Boosters for 16 & 17 year olds
Last week, the FDA amended the emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, authorizing the use of a single booster dose for administration to individuals 16 and 17 years of age at least six months after completion of primary vaccination with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine. This means that 16- and 17-year old’s can now get a Pfizer booster dose 6 months after their second dose of Pfizer vaccine.
Boosters at the Public Health Office
Beginning this week, Skagit County Public Health is now providing booster doses for eligible individuals—BY APPOINTMENT—at the Skagit County Public Health Office, located at 700 S 2nd Street (3rd floor) in downtown Mount Vernon, as well as the Skagit County Fairgrounds, located at 501 Taylor Street in Mount Vernon.
The Downtown Booster Clinic will operate Monday-Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The Fairgrounds Booster Clinic will operate Mondays, Tuesday, Thursdays, and Fridays from 4:00 p.m. to 6:45 p.m.
Appointments can be scheduled online by going to https://prepmod.doh.wa.gov/ and searching for “Skagit County Public Health” under the Name of Location box. For assistance, call Public Health at (360) 416-1500.
There are currently no available appointments. New appointments will be added each Monday at 9:00 a.m. Check our website at this time by going to www.skagitcounty.net/COVIDvaccine.
Pediatric Vaccines at the Fairgrounds
Pfizer COVID-19 Pediatric vaccines continue to be available—by appointment only—for children 5-11 years old. To make an appointment for a pediatric vaccine, go to: https://prepmod.doh.wa.gov/. Search for "Skagit County Public Health" under Name of Location.
Available appointments:
For more information about pediatric vaccine, go to: https://bit.ly/3Csp7BE. |
