Data Snapshot
UW Medicine Hospitals:
King County: The county reported 450new positive cases and 7 new deaths on Aug. 24.
Washington: The state reported 486,574 cases and 6,417 deaths as of Aug. 23.
United States: The CDC reports 37,996,672 cases and 628,000 deaths as of Aug. 24.
Global: WHO reports 212,357,898 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 4,439,843 deaths as of Aug. 24.
Numbers update frequently, please follow links for most up-to-date numbers.
UW Medicine COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Update
Total Vaccine Doses Administered: 358,116
As of Aug. 24, 2021.
UW Medicine in the News
Patch: Pfizer Vaccine Receives Full FDA Approval, Washington Celebrates
Featuring: Joshua Liao, MD, MsC, General Internal Medicine
“According to the DOH, a CDC committee is set to meet next Monday to review the FDA’s approval and update vaccine recommendations. As the Associated Press reports, those updated recommendations may make it easier for businesses and government agencies to mandate vaccines. ‘There’s the precedent in the past – if you look at public and private organizations mandating vaccines or requiring vaccination for things that are fully approved, there’s precedent,’ said Dr. Joshua Liao, an Internal Medicine Physician with UW Medicine. ‘I think there’s less precedent, because there’s less precedent in general, about emergency authorization for vaccines. And so, I do think this milestone will provide a rationale for different organizations and institutions to begin that mandating vaccination.’”
WIRED Magazine: The US Is Getting Covid Booster Shots. The World Is Furious
Featuring: Nancy Jecker, PhD, Bioethics and Humanities
“For researchers conscious of global responsibilities, the hardest thing may be the feeling that the US has turned inward, abandoning other nations. That’s self-evidently a humanitarian transgression. It’s also a poor calculation of risk. ‘Relentlessly putting America’s interests first is a failed strategy; in the long run, it fails to protect even Americans,’ Nancy S. Jecker, a professor of bioethics and humanities at the University of Washington School of Medicine and Fulbright US Scholar for South Africa, told WIRED by email. ‘If we allow the virus free rein in low- and middle-income countries, it can mutate in ways that allow it to bypass the protections afforded by vaccines and prior infections. Boosters will potentially fail when the next round of mutations occurs.’”
The Seattle Times: Demand for coronavirus tests soars in Seattle amid increased travel, concerns about delta variant
Featuring: Lea Starita, PhD, Genome Sciences; Susan Gregg, Media Relations
“Volume at testing sites throughout King County has increased by 20% to 50% in the past month, according to Public Health – Seattle & King County, with numbers similar to last winter. This includes sites not operated by the health department, such as the UW Medicine-run site on Aurora Avenue, where this week cars lined up for blocks. From Aug. 1 to Wednesday, the UW Medicine’s Virology Laboratory has processed 120,226 tests, an 8% increase from all of July and an increase of 51% from June, according to UW spokesperson Susan Gregg.”
Tweet of the Week
Is there a safe way to pull off an end-of-summer family trip? According to @UWMedicine Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Paul Pottinger, you can reduce risk by seeking out wide-open spaces for your adventure#summer #roadtrip #Summer2021 https://t.co/CxH6KEWTx1 pic.twitter.com/9AiuLMEPOC
— UW Medicine Newsroom (@uwmnewsroom) August 24, 2021
