Health & Fitness

COVID Rates Tumble Further As More In King County Are Vaccinated

Daily case counts have fallen 64 percent since the peak of the fourth wave, as more young people and middle-aged adults become immunized.

Fans are seen in the outfield bleachers designated for those fully vaccinated during the game between the Seattle Mariners and the Detroit Tigers at T-Mobile Park on May 18, 2021, in Seattle.
Fans are seen in the outfield bleachers designated for those fully vaccinated during the game between the Seattle Mariners and the Detroit Tigers at T-Mobile Park on May 18, 2021, in Seattle. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

SEATTLE β€” King County's COVID-19 outlook looks almost as bright as the weather expected this weekend, as case counts and hospital admissions continue to fall and more people reach full vaccination status. Dr. Jeff Duchin hosted his weekly coronavirus briefing Thursday, beginning with a customary metaphor to summarize the improving situation.

"Today's COVID-19 forecast is looking good for the holiday weekend for most of us, with lots of sunshine, but a chance of rain persists in some areas," he said. "Over the last seven days, public health has reported 155 new cases daily, which is down by 64 percent from our recent peak of 432 cases a day in late April. We are now at the level of COVID-19 transmission we were at just before the recent fourth wave started, and about double where we were at in September 2020, before the large fall and winter peak."

While current transmission rates remain in the "substantial" category, as classified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, robust vaccination efforts have aided in cutting down the number of new infections, despite the spread of several more infectious variants. Hospitalization rates have been cut in half since the latest peak, now averaging 10 per day in King County.

Duchin said new infections remain highest among younger people, but totals are on the decline across all age groups. The welcome improvements are largely credited to growing vaccination rates among younger and middle-aged people. As of Thursday, more than 63 percent of residents 16 and older were classified as fully vaccinated, up from 57 percent from last week. Among the same group, nearly 75 percent have at least one dose.

The weekly growth shows promising odds that the county will soon reach the 70 percent mark, a threshold believed to provide strong protection against further outbreaks and allowing the county to rescind its indoor mask mandate.

"Thanks to vaccination, we are in a much better place now as we head into summer, as we had hoped for," Duchin said. "I am optimistic that the burden of COVID-19 will continue to decrease over the coming months as more are vaccinated."

Here is this week's vaccination breakdown among younger groups:

  • Ages 12 to 19: 20% fully vaccinated (up from 16%)
  • Ages 20 to 29: 48% fully vaccinated (up from 42%)
  • Ages 30 to 39: 56% fully vaccinated (up from 50%)

Check out the latest vaccination stats on the county's new and improved dashboard.


While vaccination rates are especially strong in King County, Duchin noted that a sizeable group of eligible residents remain unvaccinated, and some geographic disparities remain. With more infectious strains increasingly prevalent, it's much easier to catch the virus for those who have yet to be immunized.

"At this time, our outbreak is being felt primarily by the unvaccinated," Duchin said. "Approximately half a million people 12 years of age and older remain unvaccinated, and 97 percent of our current cases are among unvaccinated people. That means if you're unvaccinated, your risk of COVID-19 is actually higher right now than it was last Memorial Day."

To help provide more opportunities for those who still need a shot, many cities and counties are changing their approach, prioritizing mobile teams and pop-up clinics over static sites, and bringing doses directly to where people live, work and gather. In Seattle, the city announced it would close all but one of its mass vaccination centers in June while continuing its mobile vaccination strategy into the summer. Duchin said at least one mass site would remain open in each region of the county, including the Seattle facility and the Kent and Auburn clinics.

While vaccine providers continue work to reach everyone who wants a dose, and transmission rates still need to fall further, Duchin encouraged everyone to keep up the fight a little longer.

"Our COVID-19 outbreak is moving in the right direction, and thank you to everyone who's been vaccinated and made all the hard sacrifices over the past year and a half to get us to where we are today," he said. "Getting vaccinated, clearly, is the most important way to keep us moving toward healthy lives and a healthy economy. While our disease rates are still substantial, and not all who are eligible are vaccinated, we do continue to depend heavily on one another for community protection, including those highly vulnerable people who may not respond to vaccine because they're immunocompromised from disease, treatment, or medication."


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