Seattle has immensely changed since last February?s State of the City address.??
A few minutes ago ? I delivered my address from the Filipino Community of Seattle.??
This past year?has?changed everything for?the Filipino Community of Seattle and?all of us. Our new?normal?includes masks, testing,?and?isolation.??
This year,?Seattle?families have?lost?loved ones,?and?small businesses?have faced immense challenges through the economic crisis caused by COVID-19.?Workers?across the region?have?lost wages and jobs,?while some?residents?are?unable to pay rent. Parents?are?grappling with lost childcare, kids at home,?and?online learning.??
Like?many in Seattle, the?Filipino Community of Seattle has?stepped up?including?tripping?the number of senior meals they served. Now, they?re joining the City?s efforts to vaccinate Seattle equitably.?In the days to come,?the Seattle Fire Department?transform their?space?into a one-day pop-up vaccination clinic for Filipino elders.
The pandemic has been the challenge of our lifetimes, and has further amplified the challenges of homelessness, public safety, the climate crisis, and racial disparities in every system: health care, education, housing, and policing.???
In the coming weeks,?I?ll?discuss and implement specific plans to continue addressing these?critical?issues.?This includes?the concrete steps we?ll take together to reopen and recover, especially in our downtown, opening hundreds of new shelter spaces and affordable homes to bring more unhoused neighbors inside from our streets and parks so they can get stability and services, addressing public safety,?expanding alternatives to police responses, and investing nearly 100 million dollars in the health and resiliency of Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color to address generational disparities.?This work will be hard, and we?will need all of us, focused on our shared goals.?
Our most crucial shared goal over the upcoming months is getting through this pandemic and defeating this virus, and vaccinations are the path to healing, recovery and reopening.?That?s how we beat this virus, and how we can fully reopen our schools and businesses and bring workers back downtown.??
It?s why our?Seattle Fire?Department (SFD)?mobile teams are working around the clock in critical locations across our city to vaccinate our most vulnerable and impacted neighbors, even when we got a foot of snow. SFD has?provided more than 4,400 vaccinations for residents and workers at adult family homes, home health care workers and grocery workers, and elders in our hard hit BIPOC communities.?They are doing heroic work, and are on track to vaccinate tens of thousands?of?Seattleites. But,?we need to do so much more.??
When vaccine supply increases, the?City?is ready to launch?multiple easily accessible mass vaccination sites in every part of our City?including?Rainier Beach,?West Seattle,?Downtown,?and multiple sites in North Seattle.?I want us to be the first city in the country to vaccinate 70 percent of our adults?as we?prioritize?the most disproportionately impacted.??
I know the current vaccine supply and appointment system is beyond frustrating?and?we?re?all so?tired, but we are so close.?We have sacrificed and been through so much, and we can?t let our guard down.?
Until we get enough people vaccinated, we have to double down?and continue wearing masks, physical distancing, and not gathering.?
I won?t sugar coat it:?we have a tough road ahead.?But,?there is hope on the horizon.?As I said tonight, the state of our city is tested yet resilient,?fatigued yet determined,?and challenged yet compassionate.?Together, we will get through the most challenging year in our City?s history.??
Mayor Durkan joined?All In?WA?COVID-19?relief campaign and community partners across the state?to?launch the?All In?WA Vaccine Equity Initiative in response to inequitable vaccine distribution among communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.??
Each of us has a role to play.?When you?re eligible, get vaccinated.?Help family, friends or neighbors make or get to appointments.?And if you can, contribute today to the?new?All in Washington $15 million Vaccine Equity Fund.???
This?fantastic?public-private partnership?targets and streamlines funds to trusted and known, community-based organizations who can conduct linguistically and culturally-specific vaccine education and outreach, as well as safely facilitate mobile and pop-up vaccine clinics for those who want to get vaccinated.??
Vaccines are in limited supply?and?how many doses Seattle gets and who gets them is determined by the state and federal government.?Washington State Department of Health?developed an?eligibility timeline?that aims to reduce hospitalizations and death and slow the spread of COVID-19. The state also created?FindYourPhaseWA.org?(available in English and Spanish) that will alert you when you're eligible to get vaccinated based on your age, health conditions, and where you work.??
You can also subscribe to?City of Seattle?COVID-19 vaccination newsletter for weekly updates on eligibility criteria, vaccination progress in Seattle and King County, and new City of Seattle vaccination efforts?including sites across the City as soon as the City has access to additional doses from the state and federal government.??
You'll know when we know.?
You can also get help over the phone from the Washington State COVID-19 Assistance Hotline: Dial?1 (800) 525-0127, then press #. The hotline is available from?6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Friday, and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and?observed state holidays. Phone interpretation is available.?
Seattle Fire mobile team administered COVID-19 vaccines on Valentine's Day
After?multiple?winter storms produced more than a foot of snow across the Seattle area over the weekend, the City of Seattle departments are working on response and recovery efforts across the City.??
As temperatures warm the metro area could experience urban flooding. Residents can help reduce ponding and flooding by removing snow and ice from local storm drains?with a snow shovel, garden shovel or another strong tool.??
Due to road conditions, there will be no residential or commercial garbage, recycling or food/yard waste pickup in Seattle,?today,?Monday, February 15, 2021.?Weather and road conditions permitting, service will resume Tuesday on a revised schedule ? with customers scheduled for pickup today (Monday) collected Tuesday.?All remaining residential services will be delayed one day this week.??
If garbage, recycling and food/yard waste are not picked up by the end of the following day, customers should put them out on their next regularly scheduled pickup day. Customers missed this week will be allowed to set out double their normal amount of garbage, recycling and yard waste at no additional charge, on their next scheduled collection day.??
With rain falling throughout the day, all routes and COVID-19?testing sites are bare and wet. Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) crews did detail plowing work, focusing on expanding lanes on emerald routes, widening lanes on gold routes, and improving access at bus stops and transit facilities.???
Crews continued moving snow out of intersections to improve drainage and radiuses and cleared turn lanes where possible. Crews were deployed to Seattle Public Schools to ensure food delivery programs have access when resuming service on Tuesday. Graders and plows also focused on secondary roads and business districts as lane widths and obstacles allowed and ensured good access to police precincts and fire stations. Crews visited road closures to plow and in some cases were able to open roads and update the storm response map.???
Street closure signs remain in place around the City and we will continue to inspect, set, and reset street closure signs as needed to keep drivers off the steepest side streets.???????????
When it snows, everyone has a responsibility to shovel the sidewalks around their homes and businesses. Clearing these sidewalks isn?t just the law, it?s also the right thing to do so that everyone can travel safely during a snowstorm, especially people who are disabled or have a harder time getting around.??????
Individuals who live, work, or spend time in Seattle are encouraged to sign up for free emergency alerts from?AlertSeattle?to receive emergency information via text, phone call, and email. Visit alert.seattle.gov or text the word SEATTLE to 67283 to sign up.????
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