In King county vaccination levels are up, and COVID-19 rates are down

Just another two weeks...

On June 15, 2021 King County achieved an important milestone as 70% of residents age 16 and older have completed their vaccine series.

 

That means that within two weeks, on June 29th, 70% of residents 16 and older will be protected from COVID-19 through vaccination and the King County mask directive will end. 

(It takes two weeks after completing the vaccine series to be considered fully protected.) 

Once the King County mask directive ends, the Washington state mask guidance will be in effect in King County.

The King County mask directive currently in place strongly urges all residents, fully vaccinated or not, to wear face masks in public indoor settings. 

The mask directive was issued to help us all stay safer until our community was more protected from the virus.

Since May 20, 2021, when the current King County mask directive was issued:

• An additional 170,000 people age 16 and older completed their vaccine series and another 130,000 first doses were administered to people of all ages, including second doses to adolescents under 16 years of age.
• The 14-day COVID-19 case rate in King County dropped 66%, from 133 cases per 100,000 residents on May 20, to 45 cases per 100,000 residents on June 11.
• The 7-day COVID-19 hospitalization rate dropped 70%, from 3.3 hospitalized cases per 100,000 residents on May 20, to 1 hospitalized case per 100,000 residents on June 11.

People who are unvaccinated remain at higher risk for getting COVID-19 and spreading the infection to others. And masks are an effective way to limit the spread of coronavirus, which spreads primarily through the air.

For these reasons, unvaccinated people need to follow Washington state guidance and continue wearing masks indoors when around other people who are unvaccinated. This remains in effect even after the King County mask directive ends. You can read more about this milestone on Public Health Insider.