ICWA News & Views - Informed Choice Washington

Weekly Stories about What’s Happening in Washington State and Stories of Interest to Washingtonions

by Gerald Braude

In this post:

1. Links to Radio Show references
2. Washington Government Statistics Show Negative Efficacy of COVID-19 Shots
3. Governor Inslee Backs Off on Boosters Mandates but Not COVID Shot Primary Series Requirement

**August 5 Episode of An Informed Life Radio Notes and Links**

Washington Government Statistics Show Negative Efficacy of COVID-19 Shots

The Washington Department of Health web site shows two county maps for COVID-19 shots.

COVID-19 Data Dashboard | Washington State Department of Health

The map on the right shows the percentage of fully COVID-19 vaccinated for each county. The map on the left shows the seven-day case rate per 100,000 of the population as well the latest seven-day case count and the population of the county.

Derived from those maps, the following table shows a listing of each county from the highest percentage vaccinated at the top down to the lowest percentage vaccinated at the bottom.

	% Fully Vaccinated	7-Day Case Rate	7-Day Case Count
County	12/15/2020 to 8/5/2022	Per 100,000 Population	7/20/2022 to 7/27/2022	County Population
San Juan	82%	115	20	17,340
King	81%	224	5053	2,260,800
Jefferson	78%	168	54	32,190
Clallam	71%	211	162	76,770
Whatcom	70%	154	350	228,000
Snohomish	70%	197	1637	830,500
Chelan	68%	235	187	79,660
Skagit	67%	154	201	130,450
Thurston	67%	170	496	291,000
Kitsap	64%	151	410	272,200
Clark	63%	153	763	499,200
Island	63%	106	91	85,530
Pacific	62%	105	23	21,840
Pierce	61%	179	1609	900,700
Grays Harbor	61%	153	114	74,720
Okanogan	61%	88	204	53,047
Douglas	61%	176	77	43,750
Adams	61%	244	50	20,450
Walla Walla	61%	187	117	62,580
Mason	60%	175	267	65,650
Yakima	59%	310	800	258,200
Cowlitz	58%	119	108	110,500
Spokane	58%	184	963	522,600
Benton	57%	237	488	205,700
Grant	56%	276	276	100,130
Lincoln	54%	208	23	11,050
Franklin	53%	437	423	96,760
Lewis	52%	138	111	80,250
Kittitas	52%	104	50	48,140
Wahkiakum	51%	166	7	4,210
Garfield	50%	270	6	2,225
Columbia	46%	72	3	4,185
Klickitat	46%	136	31	22,770
Whitman	45%	87	44	50,480
Ferry	42%	253	20	53,019
Pend Oreille	40%	116	16	13,850
Asotin	40%	186	42	53,003
Skamania	40%	74	9	12,220
Stevens	36%	170	78	45,920

Derived from table above, the following bar graph shows the seven-day case rate per 100,000 county population, starting with the lowest percentage vaccinated at the top down to the highest percentage vaccinated at the bottom.

Even with the fluctuations, the bar graph shows a positive increase between percentage of county COVID-19 shots and county COVID-19 case rates. Granted, some of the much less populated counties with lower COVID-19 vaccination percentages, notably Franklin, Yakima, Grant, and Garfield, have higher COVID-19 rates than counties with higher COVID-19 vaccinated percentages. Such comparisons show that the COVID-19 shots do work. But those counties are relatively slow sampling pools in which, over the seven-day period given, many other factors can come into play, such as age, health, and current weather.

The most telling statistic is a look at the largest sampling. By far, the counties with the highest populations are King, Pierce, and Snohomish. Below is the table for those three counties.

County	% Fully Vaccinated 12/15/2020 to 8/5/2022	7-Day Case Rate Per 100,000 Population	7-Day Case Count 7/20/2022 to 7/27/2022	County Population
King	81%	224	5053	2,260,800
Snohomish	70%	197	1637	830,500
Pierce	61%	179	1609	900,700

The above table shows that, of the three counties, Pierce with the lowest percentage of vaccination has the lowest case rate, Snohomish with the second lowest percentage of vaccination has the second lowest case rate, and King with the highest percentage of vaccination has the highest case rate. The following bar graph shows this increase.

So, the above bar graph of the most populated counties in Washington clearly shows that those who receive the shots to protect themselves from COVID-19 are more likely to get COVID-19.

Governor Inslee Backs Off on Boosters Mandates but Not COVID Shot Primary Series Requirement

Governor Jay Inslee has revised his directive regarding COVID-19 shots for state employees. His June 30, 2022 directive had called for all state employees to be fully vaccinated, including boosters. Inslee has now decided to “Pursue options for offering incentives for COVID-19 boosters instead of making them a requirement.”

In issuing his June 30 directive, the governor had said he was exercising his executive authority, not the emergency powers he used to issue other COVID-19-related emergency orders. More information will be forthcoming regarding the incentives and how they will be implemented, and the Office of Financial Management (OFM) will engage in rulemaking to implement the Governor’s updated directive.

Informed Choice Washington has issued an Action Alert concerning Inslee’s directive.

WA State Employee Covid Shot Mandate Filed – Informed Choice Washington

The Action Alert says, “Incentives are a form of coercion and undue influence. Using taxpayer money to bribe individuals to get a medical intervention is unethical, and considering Governor Inslee knows the shots come with the risk of cardiac injury, it seems criminal.”

The Office of Financial Management (OFM) will be holding a hearing on the rulemaking of this directive on Thursday, August 11, 2022. Deadline has passed for written comment, but you can attend the audio-only virtual hearing. Here’s how to join the call. You might be able to comment at this meeting.

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