SEATTLE (AP) - Gov. Jay Inslee and Seattle-area leaders on Wednesday touted the opening of a new mass COVID-19 vaccination site at an event center between the city’s two sports stadiums – a site authorities hope can soon be vaccinating more than 20,000 people a day, seven days a week.
The site at the Lumen Field Event Center is a partnership between the city, Swedish Health Services and the company that operates the facility, First & Goal Inc.
It will open Saturday and initially be operational two to three days a week, distributing about 5,000 doses a week.
As more vaccine doses become available officials say the Lumen site will be able to operate seven days a week and innoculate 22,000 people each day.
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said when it is operating at full capacity the operation will be the the largest civilian run vaccination site in the country.
“With Lumen Field, we are taking an enormous step forward,” she said at a news conference.
Inslee said the site is designed to help people who have had trouble getting vaccinated - either because they lack access to the Internet or other reasons - get their shots.
For now vaccination eligibility is limited to people over 65, teachers and licensed child care providers.
Calvin Goings, director of the city’s finance and administrative services department, which led the development of the Lumen Field site, told The Seattle Times the site has a $25 million budget, which the city expects will be largely reimbursed from federal aid, and will likley be open for six months.
In January 2020, Snohomish County saw the first confirmed COVID-19 case in the United States.
Since the beginning of the pandemic more than 5,000 people have died from COVID-19 in Washington state and there have been more than 345,000 confirmed cases.
The state Health Department says so far more than 750,000 people in Washington have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.
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