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Seattle becomes first large city to reach 70% fully vaccinated

SEATTLE — Seattle is the first large city in the U.S. to have 70% of the population 12 and older fully vaccinated.

It set the record ahead of San Francisco, San Jose and Boston.

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan talked about the record at the West Seattle Vaccination Hub.

“Reaching the milestone was critical for our city to start the process of reopening and recovery. And now, Seattle’s going to come back, and we’re going to come back stronger,” said Durkan.

Vaccination clinics at Seattle Public Schools increased those rates in a hurry. Hundreds of students got vaccinated at Nathan Hale High School last month. Similar clinics were held districtwide, just days after the vaccine was approved for children 12 and older.

The city administered 250,000 vaccinations, half of those were to people who identified as BIPOC.

“How we recover is as important as that we recover, and our recovery has got to show the values we believe in,” said Durkan.

The West Seattle Vaccination Hub closed Wednesday.

The city stated the closure is a sign of progress. In West Seattle, 82% of the population already got their first shot. This vaccination site alone gave out 56,000 doses.

“The reason we’re cling is we’ve just seen a sharp decline in demand. This is not longer where we need to meet people to give them vaccine,” said Acting Capt. Brian Wallace of the Seattle Fire Department. “Our vaccine work is going to continue throughout the summer on mobile teams even here in West Seattle.”

A pop-up clinic is planned for the Delridge Farmer’s Market on Saturday.

Lumen Field will hold its last vaccination clinic after Saturday.

“My goal would be 100%. I know we can’t get there, but the more people we get vaccinated, the better we will be as a city,” said Durkan.