Washington's Health Leaders Call For 'Immediate' Booster Shots

Mar, 2022 - By SMI

Due to rise in COVID cases, health leaders of Washington requested regionals to take an immediate booster shot.

Panel of state health officials requested all eligible Washington residents should take their COVID booster shots ASAP this winter to defend themselves and reduce the infection of the Omicron variant. State epidemiologist Dr. Scott Lindquist says it is too soon to predict how rapidly Omicron will outspread this season and at which location it will hit the state the hardest, but the infection has been increasing lately. He particularly noted the recent COVID-19 outbreak related to interschool wrestling competitions started this month, where over 200 people got infected including attendees, referees, coaches, and athletes, some of them fell ill with omicron variant. According to December 21^st record data, about 400 Omicron cases had been confirmed.

Dr. Umair A. Shah Health Secretary of Washington said, “Our early surveillance from a lab standpoint was very much related to detecting omicron in our state and then having a better view of where it was in our state.” Around 81.7% residents aged 12 and above i.e. around 5.4 million people have got at least first dose of vaccine, and around 75.3% people are fully vaccinated in state. Till December 21, 1.7 million residents had the booster shot.

Dr. Shah also stated that, although Acknowledging current challenges in fixing booster appointments across the state, residents assured that the state health department is reinforce with Governor J Inslee's department to take offensive steps to expand recruitment capacity. He has also asked the people who have more than one appointment to cancel them. He also requested residents that don't delay for the perfect booster shot. More information on capacity building for appointments of booster shots will be obtainable in the coming few days, he said. Meanwhile, it is important to get COVID tested, avoid crowds, keep a distance, and wear a mask.