The Jan. 5 lead article of the Courier-Herald about COVID in Enumclaw (“The ‘Claw breaks COVID case records over Christmas week”) noted some alarming statistics. We Enumclaw residents are twice as likely to get COVID, twice as likely to be hospitalized, and three times as likely to die as the other residents of the state of Washington.

One might wonder how we managed to create such an appalling situation.

The last paragraph suggests at least one of the answers. The vaccination rate in our 98022 zip code area is lower than any other zip code in the state except for that of nearby 98051.

To add clarity, there are 592 active ZIP codes in our state (worldpopulationreview.com). (Sources vary from roughly 522 to 715.)

590 ZIP codes areas have a higher vaccination rate; 1 ZIP code area has a lower vaccination rate.

590 to 1. It’s no wonder Enumclaw is known as a COVID hot spot.

Carol and Elbert Reed

Enumclaw