Washington officials seek funds for vaccines

OLYMPIA — Washington and local leaders on Monday announced a sweeping effort to raise $30 million in private and public funds to ensure the COVID-19 vaccine makes it to residents who live in underserved and minority communities hit hard by the pandemic.

Gov. Jay Inslee, King County Executive Dow Constantine and Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan participated in the meeting to talk about the campaign, known as The All in WA Vaccine Equity Initiative, and why it is needed, KOMO-TV reported.

“Vaccine access is critical to making sure our state recovers from this crisis,” Inslee said. “The All In WA Vaccine Equity Initiative ensures that our hardest-hit communities have the information and resources they need to get vaccinated.”

The initiative aims to raise $15 million in private funds that will be added to a matching $15 million in public funds. The money will be administered by the All In WA Advisory Group. Funding will be distributed to organizations based on areas with the highest need, the statement said.

The money will be awarded to “trusted and known, community-based organizations who can conduct linguistically and culturally specific vaccine education and outreach, as well as safely facilitate mobile and pop-up vaccine clinics for those who want to get vaccinated,” officials said.

The group’s statement pointed to data that has found that the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted Black, Indigenous, and people of color, immigrants, refugees, and rural and remote residents but they are significantly under vaccinated.