Accomplishments (2020-2021: COVID)

  • VashonBePrepared's Emergency Operations Center team was activated on March 12, 2020 to respond to the COVID-19 global pandemic. Our emergency response team, with the help of many Vashon and King county partners, achieved remarkable results to help inform, support, and assist Vashonites.
  • Based on Public Health - Seattle & King County's COVID-19 data dashboard, as of December 3, 2021, Vashon residents have contracted 213 positive cases for the COVID-19 virus. Throughout the pandemic, the rate of disease on Vashon has been significantly lower than the rate for King county as a whole.
  • As of September 2021, the MRC/CERT/EOC testing program had performed over 3,571 COVID-19 tests, supplying more than 38% of all tests for Vashon residents. As of September 2021, the program had identified 80 of 121 reported cases on Vashon, about half of which occurred during winter 2020's third wave.
  • The MRC took the lead in contact-tracing over 42 case clusters on the island, identifying 178 contacts and 47 additional cases among those contacts.
  • Unfortunately, Vashon has seen four deaths so far from COVID-19. This is a rate of 0.4 per 1,000 residents, which is less than half the rate for the county overall.
  • Vaccination clinics for first and second doses, adult boosters, and vaccinations for school-age children have been ongoing on Vashon, as a collaboration of MRC/CERT/EOC volunteers and Vashon Pharmacy. As of early December 2021, Vashon's very high vaccination rate for 12-year-old and older residents who received at least one dose is greater than 95%. The percentage of residents aged 12 and older who have received at least one dose is greater than 91.5%. A program to reach folks who are homebound also administered vaccinations and boosters for a number of adults experiencing mobility challenges.
  • Working with Vashon Pharmacy, by September 2021 the MRC/CERT/EOC volunteers helped administer over 10,000 doses of vaccine. More than 62% of all first and second doses for residents were handled by the Pharmacy/MRC program.
  • The Ask an Expert program assisted over 400 residents with accessing unemployment benefits, and handled 1,600 telephone consultations.
  • Through September, volunteers have contributed well over 31,500 hours to the response effort, which is more than $1 million worth of in-kind value based on the FEMA reimbursement grant rate. Actual volunteerism on the Island was much higher, as this does not include our island partners which track their time separately. A high rate of volunteerism continues through December 2021.
  • Through the generous contributions of Island residents, donations to Vashon COVID Relief Fund exceeded $456,000.
  • Vashon COVID Relief Fund distributions of just under $536,000 have supported the community via testing and vaccination programs, and numerous outreach and public information efforts. The Fund also supported programs for food, housing, and social services via our local agency partners. About two-thirds of the Fund distributions were later reimbursed from King county and FEMA, allowing even more funding to continue supporting community needs.
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