The Vashon MRC took a very active role in helping the island’s community cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. Its members created programs to allow community volunteers to provide testing when it was hard to come by, and provided vaccination services in conjunction with several other island organizations and the Vashon Pharmacy to get as many people access to vaccination as possible. These accomplishments drew national notice, with articles in publications including the New York Times, and interviews including MSNBC. Dr Jim Bristow and others on the team wrote a scientific journal article detailing the steps the MRC (along with the other island groups) took to keep the island safe and the resulting much lower rates of COVID infections, hospitalizations and deaths compared to the nearby mainland communities and a comparable island community nearby.

Vashon is incredibly grateful to the tireless work that members of the MRC dedicated during this time, and realize how lucky we are to have a broad collection of active and retired medical professionals who are willing to put in many volunteer hours to contribute towards keeping islanders healthy.