News from the Skagit County Democrats
Skagit County Democrats Action Newsletter for December 20, 2021
DEMOCRATIC EVENTS
Happy and Safe Holidays to ALL!
1. The Skagit County Democrats Headquarters will be closed over the holidays from Monday, Dec 20 – Friday, Dec 31
Headquarters will reopen Monday, Jan 3, 2021.
2. 39th Legislative District Democrats next meeting is scheduled for Sunday, Dec 26, 10:30am via Zoom
Click Here to register for the meeting.
3. NEW – Three ways to review Governor Inslee’s Salmon Strategy
4. Fact Sheets for Washington State for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Build Back Better framework
5. Afghan Refugee Aid (through December)
“As colder weather approaches, there is a dire need for warm winter clothing for more than 4,000 Afghan refugee children at New Jersey’s Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. They escaped Afghanistan on U.S. cargo planes in August with only the clothes on their backs – and they need everyone’s help. They supported the U.S. military during the war and risked everything for our service members – it’s now time for us to step up for them.
Please help by either:
- Donate online (https://gofund.me/fba4cd13) which will be used to deliver coats, jackets, and shoes directly to these children; or
- Donate winter clothing and shoes. These can be dropped off at the Skagit County Democrats Office at: 2021 East College Way, Suite 104, Mount Vernon – Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday 12:00pm – 4:00pm and Wednesday 10:00am to 4:00pm. Your coats, jackets and shoes will be picked up by Clyde Shavers who is leading this effort.”
6. Rent Request
“Fellow Democrats,
For our community’s health and safety, we cancelled the annual Gala in 2020 and 2021. Generous donors have traditionally given to our rent fund at the Gala. A year and a half ago we reached out to you to request your help in replenishing our depleted rent funds. You responded so generously that, along with the occasional rent support supplementing your membership dues, we’ve been able to meet our rent obligations up to and including November of this year.
Now, however, we are once again faced with a dwindling rent fund and the very real possibility of having to use money from the general fund to meet those same obligations. Doing so would reduce our options for supporting other priorities, such as candidate support, Get Out the Vote, and Community Outreach, which in turn would risk diminishing our effectiveness in the community.
We are optimistically looking ahead to next June in the hopes of being able to once again stage a live Gala, but in the meantime we have at least 7 months during which we need a minimum of $7,000 to fulfill the terms of our lease. Were it not for the good fortune of finding and moving into our new headquarters the amount needed would be at least $3000 more.
We welcome contributions in any amount either through our website (https://skagitdemocrats.org/) or by check to our address at 2021 East College Way, Suite 104, Mount Vernon, WA 98273. Your support is the mainstay of our party and the ability to make a positive difference in Skagit County.
Thank you so much for your continued support of our party. Respectfully, Lynn Campbell, Chair, Skagit County Democrats”
Click Here to go directly to our ActBlue donation page.
7. NEW – Links of the Week
The Links of the Week provide in-depth pieces and resources the Editor has found to be relevant, insightful, and thorough on important issues of the day.
- Great News, America: Cheese Isn’t Bad for You
- What might we expect from Native American voters in the upcoming 2022 election?
- America Is Not Ready for Omicron
- Addressing Climate Migration
- The James Webb space telescope: in search of the secrets of the Milky Way
COMMUNITY EVENTS
1. The League of Women Voters of Washington has a new group – ACT via Zoom (Action Coffee Time) – focused on topics currently being debated in Washington State Legislative session
“Mondays, 10:00am – 11:00am (with optional 11-11:15 social time). Sessions begin Monday, Jan 3, and end Monday, Mar 14. Attend as your interest in a topic and schedule allows. Each session will be recorded for viewing anytime. Email facilitator, Carol Sullivan, at carolosully@yahoo.com to get the topics schedule and Zoom link. (She promises few emails.) Likely topics: Public Banking, Local Options Bill (Ranked Choice Voting), Advisory Votes, Carbon Pricing Basics, Gun Safety legislation.”
2. UPDATED – COVID-19 Information
Current Skagit County Information – The following is taken from the Skagit County COVID-19 Update of Dec 15
Local COVID-19 Case, Hospital & Vaccine Data
Skagit has a total of 13,245 cases; an increase of 174 new cases since last Wednesday. Skagit has a total of 781 hospitalizations (increased by 16 since Wednesday), and 145 deaths (increased by 6).
Skagit’s case rate is 339.6 per 100k over the last 14 days and our hospitalization rate is 12.3 per 100k over the last seven days.
A total of 211,936 doses have been administered in Skagit County. We are now at 77.1% partially vaccinated amongst our population 12 years and older, and 71.1% fully vaccinated amongst Skagitonians 12 and older.
Our case rates continue to decline relatively steadily, however Public Health fully expects a spike in cases over the next week or two due to the Omicron variant. For more information about Omicron, please see below.
Omicron Variant Update
At this time, the Omicron variant has not yet been reported in Skagit County, though it is pretty safe to assume that this variant is already spreading here in Skagit. There is still a lot we don’t know about this variant. The CDC believes this variant likely spreads faster than other variants but is not yet sure if it spreads faster than Delta. We also don’t know if this variant causes more severe illness, or if it’s better at evading vaccine-derived or infection-derived immunity.
What we do know is that we still have effective prevention measures to protect us from severe illness and reduce the likelihood of infection: vaccination, boosters, and masks. More information about the Omicron variant can be found here: https://bit.ly/3yrKfrr.
Vaccines remain the best public health measure to protect people from COVID-19, slow transmission, and reduce the likelihood of new variants emerging. To find yours, go to Vaccine Locator or call the COVID-19 Hotline at 1-800-525-0127, then press #.
Boosters for 16 & 17 year olds
Last week, the FDA amended the emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, authorizing the use of a single booster dose for administration to individuals 16 and 17 years of age at least six months after completion of primary vaccination with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine. This means that 16- and 17-year old’s can now get a Pfizer booster dose 6 months after their second dose of Pfizer vaccine.
Boosters at the Public Health Office
Beginning this week, Skagit County Public Health is now providing booster doses for eligible individuals—BY APPOINTMENT—at the Skagit County Public Health Office, located at 700 S 2nd Street (3rd floor) in downtown Mount Vernon, as well as the Skagit County Fairgrounds, located at 501 Taylor Street in Mount Vernon.
The Downtown Booster Clinic will operate Monday-Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The Fairgrounds Booster Clinic will operate Mondays, Tuesday, Thursdays, and Fridays from 4:00 p.m. to 6:45 p.m.
Appointments can be scheduled online by going to https://prepmod.doh.wa.gov/ and searching for “Skagit County Public Health” under the Name of Location box. For assistance, call Public Health at (360) 416-1500.
There are currently no available appointments. New appointments will be added each Monday at 9:00 a.m. Check our website at this time by going to https://www.skagitcounty.net/Departments/HealthDiseases/coronavirusvaccine.htm.
Pediatric Vaccines at the Fairgrounds
Pfizer COVID-19 Pediatric vaccines continue to be available—by appointment only—for children 5-11 years old. To make an appointment for a pediatric vaccine, go to: \https://prepmod.doh.wa.gov/. Search for “Skagit County Public Health” under Name of Location.
Available appointments:
- Monday 12/20 – https://bit.ly/3DQwpQz
- Tuesday 12/21 – https://bit.ly/3mmIgA7
- Wednesday 12/22 – https://bit.ly/31XIzd4
- Thursday 12/23 – https://bit.ly/3s3nlFS
For more information about pediatric vaccine, go to: https://bit.ly/3Csp7BE.