Thread by @kristenmag

The landscape of covid transmission has drastically changed since King County began vaccine verification. I’ve highlighted specific elements of our public health order that are outdated, inaccurate, no longer relevant, or ineffective. 🧵1/10

@DocJeffD @kcexec @KCPubHealth

King County’s vax verification program aims to “prevent the spread” of covid. Implementation began in Oct. at a rate of 125 cases/7 days/100k. Omicron peaked in mid Jan. as cases reached nearly 2000/7 days/100k. It’s abundantly clear that vax does not prevent transmission.🧵2/10

The Delta variant is no longer dominant and has been replaced by Omicron, which is known to be much milder overall, and far less likely to lead to hospitalizations or death. 🧵3/10

Once infected, unvax and vax’d can be EQUALLY likely to transmit. Vax’d may have slightly less chance of becoming infected, but protection begins to wane a few months post vax. Most King County residents are currently more than 6 months post vax. 🧵4/10

thelancet.com/journals/lanin…

King County has extraordinarily high vax engagement at 86.7% among 12+. It’s clear this health order is intended to coerce a tiny percent of unvax’d, including many with:

-Severe allergies
-Cancer
-Rare diseases
-Previous covid infection
-medical contraindications to vax
🧵5/10

Businesses do not scrutinize “valid proof” of vax. There will obviously be fakes. There will also be vax’d people who test positive but still just really want to go to the bar with friends. Just flash a card and you’re in! Vaccine passports are merely an illusion of safety.🧵6/10

Children, even those who are unvaccinated, are at a far lower risk of severe outcomes than fully vaccinated adults. 🧵7/10

People banned from public spaces aren’t going to isolate in an imaginary bubble of protection. They will gather somewhere else. And much of the wording of the health order could lead to a false sense of security in fully vax’d settings among those truly at higher risk. 🧵8/10

No exemptions. Most King County sites halted asymptomatic PCR testing. Even if you can find a test, it may be a wait of several hours with no guarantee of results w/in 72 hours. This effectively bans the medically exempt from public spaces. It is inequitable and cruel. 🧵9/10

Vax verification is unreasonable and unnecessary. It has clearly NOT prevented transmission. It’s notable that as of today the UK will no longer require vax passes. It’s time for our local leaders to step up and do the same. End our inequitable and coercive vax mandates! /end🧵