Thanks to a CHS reader for the picture. We hope you got your shot. (Image: CHS)
The eligible. The connected. The lucky.
Late Thursday night, word spread across the city that one of those emergency COVID-19 vaccination events you’ve been hearing about was happening here in Seattle.
A freezer failure. A 5:30 AM expiration. A rush to dole out more than 1,000 doses.
Just after 11 PM Thursday, officials from the Swedish health system announced its community vaccine clinic at Seattle University was rushing into motion after shutting down earlier this week due to a lack of supply. “URGENT: We have 588 DOSE 1 MODERNA appointments available Jan. 28 11 p.m. to Jan. 29 2 a.m.,” the message read. The race was on to book an appointment.
Hundreds and maybe thousands lined up in sprawling crowds there and at UW Medicine which was also activated for the emergency vaccination effort. In total, some 1,300 doses were at risk.
URGENT: We have 588 DOSE 1 MODERNA appointments available Jan. 28 11 p.m. to Jan. 29 2 a.m. Click link to book. For additional slots through to 2 a.m. click on SHOW MORE and select TOMORROW. Must be Phase 1a or Phase 1B / Tier 1. https://t.co/gtVkBKb9va pic.twitter.com/w3bKmQqbHk
— Swedish (@Swedish) January 29, 2021
At first, Swedish insisted only those in the currently eligible first vaccination phase — health workers, those 65 and older, those 50+ living in multigenerational households — were eligible. But the message varied through the night and rumors spread that eligibility — and appointments — did not matter.
Swedish later in the night announced that those with appointments would be vaccinated. Reports from the line detailed volunteers on the search for 65-year-olds and last minute, middle of the night success stories.
The Seattle Times reports a freezer failure in the Kaiser system set off the urgent rollout with officials turning to the few facilities including the Seattle U clinic that were already set up and ready to deploy at mass levels.
The last of the emergency vials was spent sometime around 3 AM.
Many of the older seekers have been used to early morning hours. State and local officials have struggled to meet early goals for vaccine deployment as the federal system of distribution ramps up under the Biden administration leaving many of those eligible in a nightly scramble to grab any available appointments as they come online.
Volunteers *ran out to the street corner* just now, minutes before the final doses were to expire and vaccinated this 75-year-old woman who runs a daycare! Around 3:30am or so! Unreal pic.twitter.com/ZbnfxnrIK7
— David Ryder (@davidmryder) January 29, 2021
Seattle’s scenes of emergency vaccine deployment follows other stories from across the country where medical teams and volunteers have rallied against odds to deploy shots when freezers fail, or roads are blocked.
It also arrives as the state has suddenly lowered the bar for reopening and social gathering, making its most populous region eligible for lowered restrictions starting Monday even as fears grow of a more virulent strain of the virus.
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Article From & Read More ( With 1000+ doses expiring after freezer failure, Seattle U clinic part of overnight COVID-19 vaccination scramble - CHS Capitol Hill Seattle News )
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