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The COVID vaccine is being rolled out locally with approximately 150,000 to 350,000 doses in the first month. How is it decided who gets it first? SheAnne Allen, COVID Vaccine Director, joined Seattle’s Morning News to discuss how it’s going to be distributed.

“We’re looking at what’s happening locally, looking at outbreaks, looking at the population of, say, health care workers or long-term care facilities in each county. We’re also looking at equity, making sure that we have enough access points throughout the state. Also, we have a very well established childhood vaccine program, an adult vaccine program in our state. We’re using a lot of the already in place procedures and using a lot of the infrastructure that we’ve been using for over 10 years,” she said.

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“And so we selected those 17 sites across the state and again applied those criteria, making sure again that we’re reaching or providing access points to those that have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID disease in as many counties as possible,” she added.

Phase 1A of the COVID vaccine focuses on high-risk workers in health care settings and high-risk first responders, as well as assisted living facilities and congregate living settings. The DOH and employers in such settings will be adopting a system that ensures those eligible are aware and have a path toward the vaccine.

“So with some of the facilities, they are adapting a voucher system or a letter system,” Allen explained. “That’s what we’re also putting in place for those that don’t have access to a hospital or a health care system, if they’re not looped in for some of the first responders or providers that are at a standalone clinic who still would be eligible for that first phase.”

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“The employer would have the letter or the voucher, and they would determine which of those staff would be high risk,” she added.

What happens if the vaccine begins to run out or there are more high-risk people than anticipated?

“We’ve been gathering a lot of population estimates, and, of course, the vaccine is going to run out for this first week,” she said. “I mean, we had such limited doses, so it’s going to be difficult to vaccinate both of those high-risk populations.”

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