State Health Department Releases Guidance on Phase 1B COVID-19 Vaccine Recipients

The Washington State Department of Health released further guidance for the next phase of COVID-19 vaccination Wednesday. According to a press release, the department has finalized prioritization for phase 1B, which will be broken up into four separate tiers.

Tier 1 includes all people 70 years and older and people 50 years and older who live in multigenerational households. Tier 2 is high risk critical workers 50 years and older who work in certain congregate settings such as agriculture, food processing, grocery stores, K-12 teachers and staff, childcare, corrections, public transit, fire, and law enforcement. Tier 3 is reserved for people 16 years or older with two or more co-morbidities or underlying conditions, while Tier 4 includes high-risk critical workers in certain congregate settings under 50 years, and people, staff and volunteers of all ages in congregate living settings.

The state will still be in Phase 1A for the next few weeks.