Inslee says state not at 70% vaccination rate, despite CDC numbers

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Gov. Jay Inslee, in a statement released Tuesday, said the recent CDC vaccination numbers released for the state of Washington are not what he’s using to determine if the state will hit the 70% vaccination goal to fully reopen the state by June 30.

The CDC has calculated the vaccination progress of the state at 71.7%, while the state calculations are at 67.2%.

Inslee said the state is calculating numbers from people ages 16+, while the CDC is using only 18+.

He also said the federal government is using older census data, while the state is using census data from 2020.

“I said last week, but it bears repeating. We need to compare apples to apples. Many on social media have chosen to compare data that don’t belong together, giving Washingtonians incomplete or misinformed data on our progress,” the governor said in the statement.

Inslee said, “We are on the two-yard line. We are not going to change the game plan now. We are going to see this through.”

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