D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser says that President Biden’s decision to increase the city’s vaccine distribution by 15% over the next three weeks is “welcome” but is still not enough.
“While that is welcome news, we know too that we will continue to have less vaccine than we need to meet the demand for D.C. residents,” Miss Bowser said Thursday during a press conference.
D.C. Department of Health data show that the city has allocated 68,750 vaccine doses, of which about 75% (51,421) have been administered as of Saturday.
The District is currently in Tier 2 Phase 1B of its vaccine distribution plan which includes: residents who are aged 65 or older, living in a long-term care facility, or experiencing homelessness, as well as employees in health care settings, Fire and Emergency Medical Services, correctional facilities, government operations and public and private schools.
Child care employees were supposed to be able to get the vaccine this week, but city officials said they will have to wait until sometime in February due to a scarcity in doses.
In response to a question about a waiting list for the vaccine, D.C. Health Director Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt said “if you create a waitlist … you cannot do that concurrently with applying an equity model.”
“A waitlist assumes that a person is in a position to advance numerically for a dose of the vaccine,” Dr. Nesbitt said. “It is impossible to apply an equity model that ensures that people who are at the highest risk … [get the vaccine] regardless of when they become knowledgeable of the process or regardless of when they make a decision to get the vaccine.”
Health Department data on Thursday show that 36,132 total cases and 902 total deaths have been confirmed in the city. The District has a population of more than 700,000 residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Last Friday, Mayor Bowser lifted some coronavirus restrictions, including a ban on indoor dining, that had been in place for weeks.
The rules initially were supposed to be eased on Jan. 15, but the mayor decided to extend them until Jan. 22. She cited “public health and safety” reasons related to both the virus and the upcoming presidential inauguration in wake of the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
When those restrictions first went into effect on Dec. 23, the Health Department released data showing two of the District’s phased reopening criteria were in the “red” zone. The city’s seven-day average daily case rate was 31.75 per 100,000 people and the seven-day average of hospital beds used by virus-infected patients was 11.8% per 100,000.
Data released last Friday, however, show that both health metrics were higher than when the rules were first put into place. The city’s average daily case rate was 35.9 per 100,000 people and the average virus-related hospital bed census was 12.9% per 100,000.
The Washington Times has reached out to the mayor’s office for the reasoning for lifting the restrictions amid higher health metrics.
In Maryland, Gov. Larry Hogan announced Thursday that bars and restaurants will no longer have to close at 10 p.m., beginning Monday.
“With our data trends showing continued improvement, the holiday surges behind us, and the increasing speed of vaccinations, we are now able to take this step,” Mr. Hogan said in a statement.
Statewide, dining capacity is limited to 50%, but local jurisdictions can set their own limits.
Indoor dining bans in Anne Arundel and Prince George’s counties are to be lifted Friday, but the ban on indoor dining in Montgomery County will still be in effect.
Marshall Weston, president and CEO of the Restaurant Association of Maryland, released a statement Wednesday urging Montgomery officials to ease the restriction based on a “steady decline” in health metrics over the last two weeks.
Mr. Weston cited county Health Department data showing the average daily case rate was 33.9 per 100,000 people on Jan. 26 compared to 49.8 per 100,000 on Jan. 12, and the virus-related hospital bed census was 19.4% per 100,000 compared to 23.8% per 100,000 on the same dates.
“It remains grossly unfair that thousands of restaurant employees in Montgomery County are being asked to accept the burden of not being permitted to work when there is no evidence that restaurants are a cause of COVID spread,” Mr. Weston said Wednesday in a statement. “Meanwhile, residents continue to visit other jurisdictions for indoor dining while the livelihoods of Montgomery County restaurants and their employees remain in critical jeopardy.”
• Emily Zantow can be reached at ezantow@washingtontimes.com.
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