Washington governor wants to vaccinate 45K people a day

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has announced a plan to set up vaccination sites statewide with help from the National Guard and others as part of an overall goal to vaccinate 45,000 people a day.

The governor also announced Monday a public-private partnership with business, health care and labor entities —led by the state Department of Health — on areas ranging from coordination of volunteer vaccinators to communications support.

Among those involved are Microsoft, Starbucks and Costco.

Inslee said the state is now ready to move to Phase B1 on the vaccination schedule, and that the vaccination tier is changing immediately to include those who are 65 and older. Previously, B1 was to include those 70 years or older.