Secretary of Health Umair Shah, Deputy Secretary of Health for COVID-19 Response Lacy Fehrenbach and State Epidemiologist Scott Lindquist will be among the speakers.
Officials with the Washington State Department of Health are expected to give an update on the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic on Wednesday afternoon.
Secretary of Health Umair Shah, Deputy Secretary of Health for COVID-19 Response Lacy Fehrenbach and State Epidemiologist Scott Lindquist will be among the speakers at the 3 p.m. briefing.
Last week the department unveiled the next priority groups for coronavirus vaccination. Right now, Washington is vaccinating people in Phase 1A, which includes high-risk health care workers and long-term care residents. Phase 1B will have four tiers, beginning with people age 70 or older and people age 50 or older living in multi-generational households.
DOH has not said when Phase 1B will begin.
Washington state is expected to release a more robust version of the PhaseFinder tool on Jan. 18, which will inform people if they are eligible to receive a vaccine and help connect them with providers.
However, the Trump administration asked states Tuesday to speed the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines to people 65 and older and to others at high risk by no longer holding back the second dose of the two-dose shot.
Meanwhile, statewide coronavirus restrictions were eased this week as regions moved into Phase 1 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s “Healthy Washington” plan. The guidelines, which went into effect Monday, allowed resumption of some activities, including fitness programs and live entertainment with tight restrictions.
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