KING COUNTY, WA — King County updated one of its online COVID-19 tools this week, adding features to the dashboard that tracks infection outcomes by vaccination status across the region. The overhauled dashboard, one of eight updated regularly on the public health website, details vaccination data and booster status by age group, charts cases between groups over time and offers updated risk assessments between groups for cases, hospitalization and deaths.

According to the dashboard’s data, as omicron surged in King County, people who were not fully vaccinated were 34 times more likely to die from COVID-19 infections, 27 times more likely to be hospitalized and nearly three times more likely to become infected.

The new dashboard is also equipped with a new graph that charts hospitalizations over time by vaccination status, showing a stark contrast in outcomes between unvaccinated residents and those who received their booster shots.

“The dashboard measures the difference in the rates of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths for people of different vaccine statuses, rather than simply comparing, say, how many people hospitalized from COVID are vaccinated versus not vaccinated,” Public Health – Seattle & King County wrote. “We look at the relative risk as the best way to understand how vaccines and boosters affect your likelihood of getting very sick.”

King County is continuing regional efforts to connect more people with booster shots across all age groups, and officials said nearly 50 pop-up clinics were scheduled in February. While more than 95 percent of residents 12 and older have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine, and nearly 88 percent are classified as fully vaccinated, officials only 53 percent of eligible residents have gotten a booster.