Summary

The King County Council on Tuesday approved a fifth emergency budget for COVID-19 response that included funding to prepare King County for speedy access to any approved vaccines. The proposal was brought forward by Council Vice Chair Reagan Dunn.

Story

The King County Council on Tuesday approved a fifth emergency budget for COVID-19 response that included funding to prepare King County for speedy access to any approved vaccines. The proposal was brought forward by Council Vice Chair Reagan Dunn.

Following news of a promising COVID-19 vaccine that will potentially be available soon, Dunn proposed a budget amendment this latest supplemental budget that appropriates $100,000 of CARES Act money to develop and execute community outreach to increase access to a COVID-19 vaccine once one is produced.

“Knowing that a COVID-19 vaccine could soon be widely available, King County needs to be poised to help get that vaccine to folks who don’t have easy access to public information because of language barriers, lack of internet service, or some other factor,” Dunn said. “Having an outreach plan will empower and encourage more people, including historically disadvantaged groups, to get vaccinated, protecting themselves and others from the coronavirus.”

The community outreach plan will target underserved populations in King County to educate them on access to and availability of a coronavirus vaccine. Those populations include seniors, limited-English-proficient residents, unemployed residents, people experiencing homelessness, and rural residents. All these groups face barriers to access public information through the internet and other digital platforms. Outreach will also target historically disadvantaged communities such as Black, Hispanic/Latinx, Indigenous and other Communities of Color, which have all been disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus.