Title
A MOTION requesting the executive to develop and implement a vaccine incentive program for King County residents who complete vaccination against coronavirus disease 2019.
Body
WHEREAS, in response to the crisis posed by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, the governor declared a state of emergency on February 29, 2020, directing state agencies to use all resources necessary to prepare for and respond to the outbreak, and
WHEREAS, on March 1, 2020, the executive issued a proclamation of emergency for King County, enabling extraordinary measures to respond to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, and
WHEREAS, on March 3, 2020, the council passed Motion 15610, affirming the executive's proclamation of emergency, and
WHEREAS, on March 23, 2020, the governor issued a "Stay Home, Stay Healthy" order, which imposed significant limitations on business operations, as well as on social, spiritual, educational and recreational gatherings, and
WHEREAS, since the beginning of the pandemic, Washington state has experienced nearly four hundred twenty thousand cases of coronavirus disease 2019, more than twenty-three thousand hospitalizations and more than five thousand six hundred deaths from the disease, and
WHEREAS, on December 11, 2020, the United States Food and Drug Administration issued the first emergency use authorization for a vaccine for the prevention of coronavirus disease 2019, and
WHEREAS, effective April 15, 2021, all Washington residents age sixteen and older are eligible to receive a coronavirus disease 2019 vaccination, and
WHEREAS, on May 10, 2021, the United States Food and Drug Administration expanded the emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease 2019 vaccine to include adolescents twelve through fifteen years of age, and
WHEREAS, as of May 18, 2021, nearly seventy percent of King County residents twelve or older have received at least one dose of vaccine and fifty-four percent of residents are fully vaccin...

Click here for full text