WA health officials say time is now to get vaccinated ahead of fall, winter illness

Before the end of Washington’s COVID-19 state of emergency Oct. 31, state health officials said Thursday that serious health concerns, including COVID-19, remain.

In a state Department of Health briefing, officials advised residents to take steps now, including getting vaccinated for flu and COVID-19, and stocking up on COVID-19 home tests before fall and winter gatherings begin.

Secretary of Health Dr. Umair Shah acknowledged that statewide, “we’re nowhere where things were the last two years or even last year.”

Mask requirements will remain in place statewide for health care and long-term care facilities, as well as some correctional facilities after Oct. 31. Shah said the department is “actively reviewing and determining in which situations they will continue to apply, and plan to come back in mid-November with updates.”

A troublesome trend includes the rapid rise of respiratory syncytial virus currently sweeping the state with the potential of hitting hardest certain patient populations, including infants and young children, those with compromised immunity and older seniors.

That issue, combined with the continued staffing issues at area hospitals, is leading to extended wait times in emergency departments, notably MultiCare’s Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma and Seattle Children’s Hospital.

“When you add in complications by an early and severe season of highly contagious respiratory viruses, that puts an even greater strain on the system,” said the state’s chief science officer Dr. Tao Sheng Kwan-Gett.

He added, “Most pediatric sites such as Seattle Children’s Hospital and Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital are seeing record-high emergency department volumes due to RSV,” and other viruses.

Steps in protecting against RSV, much like COVID, include covering your coughs and sneezes, washing hands regularly with soap and water or using hand sanitizer, and keeping children at home when they’re ill, he noted.

Shah said the state had seen its first two lab-confirmed flu deaths for the 2022-2023 season.

While COVID cases in the state have trended down except for a slight uptick in September, few in the state have taken advantage of receiving the updated bivalent booster, which protects against severe infection from both the original COVID strain and the Omicron BA.4/BA.5 strains.

“As of Oct. 24, only 15 percent of eligible people in Washington state over the age of 12 have received their updated COVID-19 booster,” said Lacy Fehrenbach, chief of Prevention, Safety and Health with the department.

“It’s especially important for seniors,” she added, “while nearly 95 percent of Washington residents 65 and older completed their primary series (of vaccine), less than 30 percent have received the updated booster,” among those eligible.

Shah underscored not forgetting about the risk of COVID as people enter the winter months, with patients able to receive both vaccines — flu and COVID — the same day.

Vaccines also are available for monkeypox, recommended for those as soon as possible after exposure.

As of Oct. 26, there have been 621 reported cases in 22 counties in the state, led by King, Pierce and Snohomish counties.

“Epidemiology indicates that the outbreak is continuing to wane, though it is too early to be confident that it is ending,” Kwan-Gett said. “it’s likely that we will continue to see MPV cases for the foreseeable future.”

As for overcrowded hospitals, Shah was not optimistic conditions would improve in the short term.

“This is for some time going to be difficult,” he noted, emphasizing that strains on hospitals now made steps for prevention all the more valuable.

“The pandemic may be in a different phase, but we still need to take preventive measures as community members,” he said.

More information on finding COVID-19 vaccines is at vaccinelocator.doh.wa.gov.