TACOMA, Wash. — Pierce County’s COVID-19 case rate is the highest it’s been during the pandemic, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department announced Monday.
“This has just blown everything else away,” said Dr. Anthony Chen, director of health.
He said there are also high rates of hospitalization and serious illness in the county, where less than half of the population is fully vaccinated.
“Every surge that we've had, it's been led by the younger people, but what's more worrisome for us now is that this is pushing down into even younger age groups, and we're actually starting to see more young people get hospitalized or get very sick,” Chen said.
He is urging anyone who is eligible to get vaccinated. He said he hopes a growing list of employers requiring vaccinations will help drive up the numbers.
But there's some pushback in Pierce County, including from firefighters opposed to Governor Jay Inslee's vaccine mandate. A group of unions wrote a letter to the governor saying "the decision regarding the vaccine is complex and personal; we believe our members should retain the ability to make their own decisions on personal health matters."
"None of our members can simply be replaced, nor should they have to be for making a distinctly personal choice,” the unions said.
The governor's office responded by saying workers are missing shifts in incredibly high numbers due to exposures and infections.
As for when cases in Pierce County will start to level off, Dr. Chen said they're not there yet.
“Because of the speed of this surge, right now, we're still not seeing the full impact,” he said.