Inslee–BF Fairgrounds to Become One of Vaccination Centers

Gov. Inslee announced a variety of items about 'speeding up' the process of making vaccines available to Washington residents during his press conference Monday.

After wading through a confusing Phase 1B Tier 1-2-3-4 dissertation, the news that is of interest to citizens is this:

• Starting next week at the latest, anyone over the age of 65 can get a vaccine immediately. Citizens were urged to contact medical provider immediately.
• Anyone over the age of 50 who lives in a multi-generational home can also get one immediately.
• Several "mass vaccination" centers are going to be put up around the state, as early as next week, including the Spokane Arena, and the Benton-Franklin Fairgrounds.

The information announced earlier in the day about Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson and Microsoft's Brad Smith joining the press conference was to reveal these companies are lending their resources to help get the mass sites set up and running. This includes technical and logistial as well as digital support. It also includes providing information on the state's website about what Tier or group people are in, and when they (based upon age etc) can get their vaccine.

The National Guard will also be enlisted to help get these set up, as well as disperse the vaccines.

Inslee has set a goal of 45,000 vaccines a day over the "next few months," however that exceeds the amount of vaccines the state is receiving from the Federal Government. Currently, the state is, according to Inslee, vaccinating between 13-15K people a day, the majority of them elderly, or high risk.