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This week, initial doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Seattle.? Our dedicated front-line responders have been among the first to receive the vaccine in the city, with Paramedic Alan Goto being the first Seattle Fire Department member to get vaccinated.
First responders, like Alan, have constantly put their own health and safety on the line to protect residents since the beginning of the pandemic, and continue to lead the way in our fight against the public health crisis caused by COVID-19. In April, Alan helped stand up the Seattle Fire Department?s Mobile Assessment Teams, which went into long-term care facilities and adult homes to test patients and staff to help identify COVID-19 clusters and stop outbreaks.
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I extend my deepest gratitude to Alan and the rest of the Seattle Fire Department staff who maintain our successful, free citywide testing facilities, and to all front line workers who are treating COVID-19 patients in our hospitals. While first responders and health care workers managing COVID-19 patients are first in line to receive the vaccine, it will take months before vaccines will be available to more individuals. The City of Seattle is currently hard at work on a plan to have free and accessible vaccinations for our community as more vaccines become available.
For now, we all must continue to avoid social gatherings and masking up to flatten the curve. In the past two weeks, Seattle has had 2,174 positive COVID-19 cases, and 109 hospitalizations with many of our regional hospitals stressed. As reports came in this week, we learned that statewide, and in King County we are beginning to flatten the curve. This is directly due to the smart choices our residents have made over the past month to stay home and avoid gatherings.
This pandemic has not only been difficult for families, but also for our local small businesses. This week, the Seattle City Council passed unanimously our joint proposal to provide a new $5 million relief package to support small businesses and workers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Funding will be devoted to restaurants and bars, and hospitality workers.
Shopping local - and safely - will have a positive impact on our small businesses. If you still need to do your holiday shopping, ?I encourage you to check out the Office of Economic Development?s Shop your Block retail map. Shopping locally, is a great way to support your neighborhood businesses in this unprecedented and unpredictable year.
As always, please continue to write me at [email protected], reach out via Twitter and Facebook, and stay up-to-date on the work we?re doing for the people of Seattle on my blog.?
Stay Safe, Healthy, and Happy Holidays,
 
On Dec. 15 Paramedic Alan Goto ? a 22-year veteran of the Seattle Fire Department ? became the first department member to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. He received the first shot of the FDA-authorized Pfizer vaccination alongside several other healthcare workers at the UW Medical Center in north Seattle.
?As public servants who have chosen to dedicate ourselves to protecting our community, getting vaccinated is the most relevant thing we can do in this moment to fulfill our commitment to serving the public,? said paramedic Alan Goto.
New Public Development Authority to Develop Real Estate Projects in Partnership with Cultural Communities
Mayor Jenny Durkan signed the Cultural Space Agency Public Development Authority (PDA) charter to create the first new PDA in nearly 40 years. The Cultural Space Agency is a first-of-its-kind cultural real estate development company, chartered by the City of Seattle and guided by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) leaders from across the cultural, community development, and commercial real estate sectors.?
 While we all work to stay safe and healthy, this month the Seattle Department of Transportation has announced their Brand New Year Blocks, as a great way to stay active and healthy while staying close to home. Brand New Year Blocks allow residents to close one block for three total days from now through January 3, 2020. One mile of Lake Washington Blvd will be open to people walking, rolling, and biking through January 3, 2020, and current Stay Healthy Blocks are extended through February.
New Public Development Authority to Develop Real Estate Projects in Partnership with Cultural Communities
Mayor Jenny Durkan signed the Cultural Space Agency Public Development Authority (PDA) charter to create the first new PDA in nearly 40 years. The Cultural Space Agency is a first-of-its-kind cultural real estate development company, chartered by the City of Seattle and guided by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) leaders from across the cultural, community development, and commercial real estate sectors.?
Small Business Grants to Focus on Restaurants and Bars; Worker Grants to Focus on Hospitality Industry
Mayor Jenny Durkan, City Council President M. Lorena Gonz?lez, and Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda today celebrated the City Council?s unanimous vote to provide a new $5 million relief package to support small businesses and workers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to recent statewide restrictions needed to slow the surge of COVID-19, the $5 million will be directed toward small businesses and workers in the hospitality industry. $2.5 million will go to restaurants and bars, and $2.5 million will go to hospitality workers. Recent data indicates that over 600 restaurants and bars have permanently shut down in Seattle since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
This weekend, we encourage you to read Mayor Durkan's op-ed in the Seattle Medium about the $100 million investment her 2021 budget is making in Black, Indigenous, and communities of color:
It?s undeniable, 2020 has shone a bright light on our country?s insidious systemic racism and the disproportional impact on our Black neighbors. As a nation, we all witnessed the national uprising and pain that Black Americans were re-living with the murder of Mr. George Floyd. As Seattle reckons with a global pandemic, the most severe economic crisis in our lifetime, a worsening climate crisis, and a long-overdue racial reckoning, I signed a budget that commits the City of Seattle to making a first of its kind investment of more than $100 million into our communities of color. But it is not enough to just adopt budgets. To truly make a difference, we must center these investments in communities that we know have been most impacted by systemic racism ? our Black and Native American neighbors. The data is undeniable that the Black community has experienced these disparities disproportionately ? and by most indicators of community wellness and access to opportunity, it is clear the Native community is also severely impacted.??
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