Dr. Jeffrey Duchin, Chief Health Officer for Public Health – Seattle & King County, explained to TraeAnna Holiday, host of The Day with Trae what you can do to protect yourself from the current uptick in COVID-19 cases throughout King County. According to the King County COVID-19 trends, COVID-19 cases began rising in November and have gradually increased. 

"We're still seeing lots of hospitalizations, lots of cases, and lots of preventable disability, mortality, you name it," Duchin said. "The fact that a lot of people think the pandemic's over and it's gone is leading folks to drop their precautions." 

The current dominant strain growing across the United States is JN.1. According to the CDC, this strain's growth indicates that it is more transmissible and challenging to fight off than the original Omicron variant.

"I know people are a little tired of all the vaccinations, but you really do need that current booster that was just released in the fall to get the protection against the current strain," Duchin said.
This is especially important for at-risk people as the recent strain continues to show health disparities that have been present since the start of the pandemic. 

"Unfortunately, we're continuing to see some of those disparities where residents who identify as Black, Native Hawaiian, Pacific islander, [and] mixed race are likely to be hospitalized at twice the rate compared to the King County population as a whole," Duchin said.

Vaccinations against COVID-19 are found at most local pharmacies and doctors' offices. Additionally, the Public Health office is still operating the vaccine clinic in Kent Hill Plaza Shopping Center, where anyone coming in can get vaccinated without insurance and at any age.

"Covid and flu vaccines should be very widely available for folks to get, and I encourage people to get that best protection as these levels continue to rise nationally," Duchin said.

Additionally, community vaccination events are also being set up.

"We're having community vaccine events at community centers, churches, and libraries. We have ten scheduled for the next month," Duchin said.

If unvaccinated or needing a booster, receiving a vaccine as soon as possible is essential, as the current strain is spreading rapidly.

"I think our current surge will come down and go up again in the future," Duchin said. 

"We should expect that, but there are things that we can do to keep ourselves healthy, and I hope we all do that, especially for our elders who are really at the highest risk."

For updates on when community vaccine events are happening near you, click here. 

For those unable to leave their homes to get a booster or a vaccination, call 206-848-0243 for a house visit.