Also in this edition: City of Seattle Administers 100,000th COVID-19 Vaccination
Durkan Digest Standard Header
This week,?Fire?Chief Harold Scoggins and I?announced the launch of a second Health One unit [ [link removed] ]?to?expand?service to Ballard and the University District.??
This new, second unit will began operation on April 15 and will be staffed by two specially trained firefighter/EMTs and care manager from the Human Services Department Aging and Disability Services Division.?
The team will serve people with non-emergency 9-1-1 calls with issues like substance abuse, non-emergency medical issues and a need to access services. Health One continues to focus on providing alternatives to transporting individuals to hospital emergency departments?or connecting them with the right services.?Since?the?November 2019 launch,?56 percent of those served by Health One were experiencing homelessness.??
Photo of public officials at the second Health One unit launch
Seattle has pioneered community safety initiatives like Health One. As we continue to reimagine public safety, we will expand civilian public safety alternatives like Health One that sends a firefighter and social worker to a 9-1-1 call. Following the events on this past summer and looking ahead,?we will continue to scale Health One to neighborhoods across Seattle. Our Seattle Fire Department?(SFD)?has led the way in serving our community in new ways, and their work is connecting more people to the right resources in our community.?
Health One is literally saving lives?and connecting individuals with the right resources in?non-emergency cases.?This work is important now, more than ever?especially?as the City continues to face the ongoing public health crisis of COVID-19?and the crisis of homelessness.??
As Health One is?serving our community, we need?to all continue to do our part in the middle of the pandemic to keep our community health and safe. Even in this weekend?s beautiful weather, mask up, keep your?distance, do not?gather in large groups,?and to continue to follow public health?guidance.?
Also this week, all people 16 years-old or older are eligible to receive their COVID-19 vaccines.?I encourage all who are eligible?who live or work in King County can sign up now for the City?s?vaccination appointment notification list [ [link removed] ].?
Stay Safe,?and Healthy,?
Mayor Jenny Durkan's Signature________________________________________________________________________
Safe Fun in the Sun for Park Visitors
It feels like summer in the middle of spring! We?re all heading outside to enjoy it, and deservedly so. Because we know that time spent outdoors is so important to physical and mental health, we?re excited to finally be able to offer a?tentative summer schedule of outdoor activities [ [link removed] ].?
But as we?re having long-needed fun, please remember that each of us still has a critical role to play in defeating the pandemic. Please continue to?wear your mask in public, keep your?distance?and limit social gatherings to the?outdoors. Public health officials are very?concerned about a fourth wave [ [link removed] ]?due to the presence of variants in our community, which could push us back into Phase Two. Starting today, you?ll see lots of new signs in parks about masking up and staying socially distant from those not in your pod. Seattle Parks and Recreation staff will be in the major parks this weekend too, reminding people of the same, and handing out masks for those who need one.?
Read more [ [link removed] ]?
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More Than 150 Mayors Urge US Senate Action on Gun Background Check Bills
Following yet another tragic mass shooting in America, 152 Mayors from across the country are urging for Congress to finally act. This week, Mayor Durkan along with a large bipartisan group of mayors from across the country signed a letter pushing for senators to pass two bills that would strengthen gun background checks.
Map of the U.S. depicting the location of every mass shooting in the past month
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Enough of the same headlines. Enough of thoughts & prayers. Enough lives lost to finally do something. Our country is waiting for Congress to act.?
Read more [ [link removed] ]?
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As Eligibility Opens to All Residents 16+, City of Seattle Administers 100,000th COVID-19 Vaccination
Seattle Mayor Jenny A. Durkan?announced the City of Seattle?s vaccination plan for the week of April 12 through April 17. While the City has not seen a significant increase in supply, the City of Seattle and its partners will administer 24,400 doses of COVID-19 vaccine. Since becoming a COVID-19 vaccine provider on January 14, 2021, the City and its partners have administered 100,000 vaccinations, and helped create four fixed COVID-19 vaccination sites in North Seattle, Rainier Beach, West Seattle, and the Lumen Field Event Center. In addition, the Seattle Fire Department (SFD) Mobile Vaccination Teams (MVT) have begun administering vaccinations to formerly homeless individuals in permanent supportive housing.?
Read more [ [link removed] ]?
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Mayor Durkan Applauds City Council Passage of Nearly $23 Million in COVID-Related Rent and Utility Relief for Seattle Tenants
Following the City Council?s 8-0 passage of legislation to provide nearly $23 million in rent and utility relief for Seattle residents. Mayor Jenny A. Durkan provided the following statement:???
?The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic crisis has left far too many out of work as businesses have shuttered leaving families struggling between paying rent or putting food on the table. The City of Seattle has taken unprecedented steps to provide for our communities most impacted during this time. From announcing one of the first-in-the-nation moratoria on residential, small business, and non-profit evictions to direct cash assistance for renters, Seattle has invested tens of millions of dollars to provide critical resources especially for our communities of color who have been disproportionately impacted by the virus,? said Mayor Durkan.???
Read more [ [link removed] ]?
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Winner Announced in Tunnel Boring Machine Naming Contest
SPU crews with the Tunnel Boring Machine
"More than 35,000 votes cast to name TBM That Will Build Storage Tunnel to Reduce Water Pollution"?
We have a winner and it is a name with deep ties to Seattle! Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) today announced the tunnel boring machine (TBM) used to build Ship Canal Water Quality Project?s storage tunnel is named?MudHoney.?MudHoney?was the top vote-getter after more than 35,000 votes were cast to choose a name among the top five finalists. Since the late ?80s,?Mudhoney, the Seattle-based foursome whose muck-crusted version of rock, shot through with caustic wit and battened down by a ferocious low end, has taken a stand against overflows into our waterways.?
Read more [ [link removed] ]?
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WEEKEND READ: Seattle Times: After COVID shots, people in Seattle weep, rejoice and plan for the future
Seattle resident waiting to receive COVID-19 vaccination as Lumen Field and Event Center
They are joyful things, these vaccines.?
Worth getting dressed up for. Cause for celebration and selfies. Impetus for unexpected upwellings of emotion.?
Even as their rollout can seem, at times, haltingly, achingly, maddeningly slow, it is happening. More than one-third of the United States now has one. About the same percentage in Washington state. And half of King County.?
One day last week, 8,000 people got the Pfizer vaccine in a Seattle convention center, likely the most people, to date, to get a shot in one spot, in one day, in the state.?
The vaccines are free and health insurance is not required. On Thursday, all Washington residents ages 16 and up will be eligible to receive one. And vaccinations continue apace,?despite a pause for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine [ [link removed] ]?while federal officials review safety data.?
Strip it of context and it?s almost dystopian: 8,000 strangers herded into a steel and concrete hangar to stand in a maze of lines awaiting their turn to get jabbed in the arm with a sharp piece of metal.?
But after living through the last year, they?re like keys, unlocking that which has been out of reach. They herald the imminent return of the monumental and the mundane ? weddings and movie theaters, far-flung trips and afternoons at the library, packed concerts and watching a game at a friend?s house.?
?Look at this, you know,? Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said to a staff member as they walked in the Lumen Field Event Center mass vaccination site last week. ?I?m going to start tearing up.??
Read more [ [link removed] ]?
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